Next Gen Bros
by Shockwave Studios
Summary: Mario is dead. Bowser is as well. However, this doesn't spell peace as Bowser's grandson has invade the Mushroom Kingdom. Season 2 has begun! Chapter XVII up!
1. The Family Reunion

**Next Gen Bros.**

**A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe**

**Author's Note:**

**All dates assume that Mario is 30 years old at the time of Super Mario Bros. 1 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1989. If you don't want to read the characters part do a find search for "And Now".**

**Characters:**

**Mario, 77, the aging hero and king of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario has retired from his days as the savior of the Mushroom Kingdom and has enjoyed golf games with his wife Princess Peach, and brother Luigi.**

**Luigi, 77, Mario's twin (yet at the same time younger) brother. After Mario married Peach, Luigi took over saving the Mushroom Kingdom before he married Princess Daisy of Sarsaland. He now is as legendary as his brother.**

**Peach, 74, the queen of Mushroom Kingdom, after ending her role as Damsel in Distress, Queen Peach took a step in obscurity and became a housewife.  
**

**Toad, 70, the grandson of Toadsworth and new retainer to the Princess (now Queen).**

**Daisy, 75, the queen of Sarasaland. She's the most active of the original heroes as she is currently in command of the Sarasaland Army.**

**Don, 20, the son of Mario and Peach and heir to the Mushroom Kingdom. A lawyer**

**Vito, 20, the son of Luigi and Daisy, bold like his father was in his later years. A businessman.**

**And Now...**

**Chapter One-The Family Reunion**

**It was a warm day in the Mushroom Kingdom, clouds smiled as they normally do in Mario Videogames. News was spreading around Toad Town that King Luigi and Queen Daisy of the neighboring country of Sarsaland were coming to Peach Castle for the Mario Brother's Family Reunion.**

**Toad was busily preparing for the special occasion by keeping the Royal Chef, Toadmeril, working on the cake.**

"**Sir, are you making the cake right? It should be five layers high. Deep Chocolate and Strawberry. That is the Queen's favorite type of cake," Toad said pompously.**

"**Shall I 'blam' it up?" Toadmeril asked. Toad turned to him and placed his royal cane underneath his arm and leaned close to Toadmeril.**

"**No blamming shall be necessary Master Toadmeril," Toad said, his eyes shooting daggers at the chef. Toadmeril muttered something incoherent under his breath and went back to his work. Toad left the kitchen in a huff.**

**King Mario was in his royal chamber getting dressed in his formal overalls. His hair had turned to a perfect silver color. His white shirt and black overall combo was his most popular and common attire. Of course, the classic red with blue was the next most popular. **

**It was around noontime on that April 20****th****, 2036 that King Luigi arrived with his wife Queen Daisy and his son Prince Vito.**

"**Luigi! How's it going?" Mario asked as he ushered his brother into his castle.**

**Luigi had also grayed. He wore a jade crown rather than his green cap, however he still wore his classic green shirt and navy overalls. A green cape was attached to the arm straps of the overalls.**

"**Pretty, good. Daisy and I have been holding together while Vito runs his business. What do you do again?"**

**A tall man stepped forward. He nearly resembled Luigi in his prime. He wore no cap which exposed his long brown hair he obviously inherited from his mother. He wore a turquoise shirt with light blue overalls. In the top right corner of his overalls was a white circle with a turquoise "V".**

"**Oh I dibble and dabble. Mostly I run some item shops in Sarsaland."**

"**With the family all here. I suppose we can start the ceremonies." Mario said. He led Vito, Luigi and Daisy into the castle main room where the family talked until night fell and it was time to start the ceremony.**

**Mario stood at the balcony in front of a crowd of cheering Toads. Queen Peach followed as the cheering became even more intense. Toad stepped forward and held his cane up silencing the crowd. He cleared his throat.**

"**Ahem. I now present, King of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario Mario!"**

**The crowd again went crazy. Mario stepped forward and squinted his eyes. He smiled.**

"**My Mushroom Kingdom Subjects: I stand here today as your king of twenty-seven years. My wife and I have done everything we can to ensure peace. Bowser has not done a thing in thirty years. However, this ceremony is more than to present my brother…"**

**The crowd began mutter among themselves. Mario raised his hand.**

"**It's nothing bad. I want to formally present my son, Don Corleone Mario, as the official heir to the throne. Don, come here."**

**A man stepped forward. He was short like his father, but skinny like his mother. He wore his father's old colors and a cap designed exactly like his father. He was twiddled with his moustache as he stepped to the mike.**

"**Mushroom residents, you know me as the head lawyer for Yoshi and Yoshi. My father bestowed upon me a great task. I will do everything I can to continue the peace my father started."**

**The crowd blared with cheering and the party began. It was a night of happiness and excitement. With the lightheartedness of the event no one could have expected the horrors the next month would bring.**

**Until Next Time…**

_**Chapter Two-Koopa Attack!**_


	2. Koopa Attack

**Next Gen Bros.**

**A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe**

**Previously on Next Gen Bros.**

"_In an official ceremony Mario made his son the crown-prince of the Mushroom Kingdom._

_King Mario has kept the Mushroom Kingdom peaceful during his 27 year reign. How much longer can peace stay?_

_About two weeks…"_

**And Now…**

**Chapter Two- Koopa Attack!**

**Author's Note: I forgot to mention in Chapter One that Mario, Luigi, Toad, Toadsworth, King Koopa, Princesses Peach and Daisy and Morton Koopa and various others are property of Nintendo. Vito Mario, Don Mario and Demon Koopa are my creations.**

**The Nightmare begun on late night on April 30****th****, 2036 in Bowser's Castle on the outskirts of Koopaland's Capital, Koopa Village.**

**The King of Koopas was stand by a window in his uppermost room. Flashback after flashback came to him. It was here where the Koopa would always fall to Mario. Someway or another Mario (and more recently Luigi) would always beat him. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair!**

"**KAMEK! Bring Morton and Demon to me. Now!" the King of Koopas declared. He walked up to a bridge holding an axe. Mario used that axe to beat him back in his "8-bit phase". Demon and Morton entered the throne room. Bowser took a seat on his throne.**

**Morton was recognizable by his brown scales and unique white star over his eye. He was tall and brutish, like his father. However, even more scary than Morton was Demon. He had black scales, a red underbelly and red shell. His hair was maroon, his eyes blood red. He looked sinister and there was no doubt that he was a Royal Koopa.**

**Morton was the last of the Koopa Kids to be alive. Wendy fell sick from a strange illness and died fifteen years ago. From there everything went downhill. Iggy was killed in an attempt to fly to Star Road to steal Geno's powers. Lemmy and Larry were killed by Mario and Luigi in an assault of Toad Town. Ludwig was killed by Morton when Ludwig tried to usurp the throne from Bowser. All that was left was Morton and Demon, Morton's son. The Koopa King coughed.**

"**Prince Morton and Prince Demon. My children. I am one-hundred and five years old. In my century and change of life, for forty-seven years I've been plagued by those son of bitches, Mario and Luigi. I'm not look for this world. Soon I'll move on and be with the rest of my children, Stars rest there souls, excepting that traitor Ludwig. Morton, you're more powerful that even me. Demon, never have I seen such a sneaky Koopa in my life. There is something I want of you."**

**Demon stepped forward. "Anything my Lord, I ask it and I will execute."**

"**Bloodthirsty too. That's what I like about you. Listen here. Mario has kept Toad Town peaceful for 30 years. No longer. Gather the troops. Tomorrow we attack Toad Town. But more importantly, tomorrow ends the life and legacy of that damned plumber. My son and grandson, heirs to my throne, I want you to kill King Mario of the Mushroom Kingdom!"**

**A bolt of lightning crashed outside. The doom of tomorrow would be greater than either Koopa or Mushroom could imagine.**



**King Mario was awaken by a loud resounding boom.**

"**Stars? What's up?" Mario asked. Toad burst into the room. Peach screamed, as she wasn't…presentable to the public.**

"**My queen forgive me. Milord Mario! Bowser is besieging Toad Town along with his son and grandson!"**

**Mario jumped into action and order the local militia into action. He stepped out of his castle to behold the terror. The Castle Town was under attack by a mass of Koopa Troopa, Goombas and Bom-Ombs. At the head of it all was Morton, Demon and Bowser.**

**The battle had started as a massacre. Toads were strewn all over the town, dead. The Royal Militia of the Mushroom Kingdom began to fight off the onslaught as Mario began to duel with Morton.**

"**You've shame the Koopa Family for the last time Mario. Now you die."**

"**Not to you nor your pathetic father will I fall."**

**Mario drew a sword and began to fight against Morton's flames. Demon headed an attack to the east while Bowser oversaw the fight. Morton blew a puff to the right. Mario nimbly dodged. He charged at Morton and slashed. Morton received a large gash on his right arm.**

"**Hraaah! Mario. You will pay!" Morton blindly charged at Mario. Mario looked behind him. A small group of Bom-Ombs without orders. Perfect. At the last conceivable second Mario jumped in the air and somersaulted.**

"**Father! No. Don't be foolish!" Demon screamed.**

"**Schwa? No!!!" Morton screamed as he careened into the Bom-Ombs. There was an explosion. Morton was sent flying until he landed on top of some of his own battalion, impaling them with the spikes on his shell. Demon glared. He ordered his units to finish the attack without him. He watched on.**

**Morton began to back up. He couldn't lose. No. Not to Mario. His father asked him to restore honor to the Koopa Name. He would do it! He had to. It was up to him!**

"**DIE MARIO!!!!" Morton screamed. He was fueled by pure rage. His judgment was clouded. He didn't even feel the sword stab him as he came in contact with Mario. He was able to cut the King's right arm. He stepped backwards. He noticed his blood leaving him. He felt sick.**

"**Damn you…Ma-Mario…" Morton fell down face first. It was as Demon figured it would turn out. Mario had killed his father. Bowser saw it all. He felt a tear well up in his eye.**

"**All my children are dead. Mario…I have no one to carry my name. Just my grandson, Amherst." The Koopa King smiled as he walked in front of the King and laughed evilly.**

"**Just like old times, eh? Just you and me." The Koopa Kind squared off with Mario.**

"**Bowser we end this now…once and for all."**

"**I wouldn't have any other way...plumber!"**

**Until Next Time…**

_**Chapter Three-Eulogy of A Mario Bro.**_


	3. Eulogy of A Mario Bro

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

"_Three decades of peace shattered in one Koopa strike. Mario rallies his militia to ward of the attack. In doing so he kills Morton Koopa. Bowser has had it. It's Mario vs. Bowser. Winner takes all."_

**Author's Note: To compromise with working on my novel and webcomic Next Gen Bros will update on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So tune in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.**

**And Now…**

**Chapter Three- Eulogy of A Mario Bro.**

**Mario brandished his sword. He glanced quickly at his right arm. Feh. It wasn't anything serious.**

"**No 1up Mushrooms in sight plumber. You haven't half a chance," Bowser declared. He was ready. It was one final glory. There was no restart button. It was World 8-4, one life and no axe.**

**Mario dashed at Bowser screaming something in Italian. Bowser stood his ground. Demon was distracted by an attacking Toad. He swiftly grabbed the soldier by his mushroom and broke his neck.**

**Bowser shifted to the right. Mario moved to the left to stay lined up with him. He swung the sword. Bowser caught it with his shell. Mario pulled out and swung again. Bowser this time caught the sword with his claw. Bowser charged at Mario and punched him. Mario flew backwards and clenched his stomach. He looked up. Bowser wasn't finished with his assault.**

**Mario stood up and adopted a fighting stance. Mario dodged to the left as Bowser slashed. Mario stood straight and brought the sword down. Bowser blew a stream of fire at Mario. Direct hit.**

"**Ngaaah!" Mario screamed as he flew backwards. Bowser laughed. Mario hadn't been hit by a fireball in years.**

"**Mario, Mario, Mario. You fool. Don't you understand. I'm going to kill you. And yet and still you hold back." Mario was shocked.**

"**When I was younger I would only want to kill you if you put up a worthy fight. I'm old. And you know what they say…'Tigers fight their last fight the fiercest.' Heh heh heh."**

**Mario knew Bowser was right. He had to fight for real this time. Mario found another sword by a fallen Toad. He recognized the Toad was Toadmeril's son, Keith. For his kingdom, for the world! Bowser must die now!**

"**You're right Bowser, I was holding back. But now I know, I must kill you. For the preservation of my Kingdom!"**

"**The Kingdom will be mine soon!"**

**Bowser charged at Mario, teeth and claws bared. Mario slashed at Bowser. Both were hit hard. Bowser had a large gash open along his face and arm and Mario's right arm was essentially out of commission. The two charged again. Bowser aimed for Mario's throat. Mario jumped and slashed. Bowser took a heavy hit to the underbelly while Mario's side was cut. Both combatants were bleeding profusely. Bowser spat out some blood and staggered to the right.**

**Demon thought of an old quote his grandfather used to say.**

"**He who Koops and runs away, lives to Koop another day."**

**Demon had seen enough. Both fighters were stubborn as hell. They would just keep going until on of them was dead. He signaled to his captain to order a retreat command. Bowser saw Demon issue the retreat.**

"**Amherst, what the hell are you doing?!" Bowser roared. Demon looked at his grandfather. It wasn't about compassion. His soldiers would lose too much heart if they found out both their crown-prince **_**and**_** King had been killed by Mario.**

"**Bowser, you've taken too much damage. Continue fighting and you will lose. Do not make the same mistake as Morton did."**

**Bowser was taken aback. Demon was talking as if **_**he**_** was the king; he'd referred to both the King of Koopas and the Crown-Prince by first name.**

"**Amherst, call the troops back or else." Demon began to walk closer to Mario and Bowser.**

"**Better listen to your boy Bowser." Mario said cockily. Bowser's temper flared.**

"**Stay out of this bastard." Demon said to Mario and then turned to Bowser, "You can't win. It would be a strategic folly to fall to Mario now.**

"**I won't lose. Now, stop interfering or I'll make you stop."**

"**Bowser, I'd rather not. You're hurt and old. I'd make minced meat of you."**

**Bowser wasn't so blinded in his pride to not note that Demon hadn't taken any damage. He began to turn away.**

"**And so that's how the Mighty Bowser leaves my Mushroom Kingdom. With his tail stuck in between his legs!" Mario declared.**

"**That's it. Die you plumber!"**

**Demon didn't get to react in time in enough to restrain his grandfather. Bowser barreled at Mario for one final charge. Mario was even shocked by the charge. Bowser slashed and cut Mario deep in the chest and followed quickly with a punch to the face. Mario stood through the assault. As soon as Bowser backed up, Mario fell to his knees.**

"**I'll…be back. Don't you worry about that," Bowser turned and followed Demon. Mario was immediately taken to a Toad House.**

**---**

**Mario was in a coma for most of the next days. He awoke on May 3****rd**** with a headache. The mushroom retainers were happy to see him awake. King Luigi had rushed to see him as well.**

"**Bowser…is he dead?" Mario asked. Don looked at his dad and shook his head, "We've heard no news from Koopa Castle to confirm that."**

**Mario frowned. Luigi walked toward his brother.**

"**Don't worry about that right now alright? You need to focus on getting better." Mario shook his head.**

"**No. Don, come here."**

**Don walked to his dad and nodded as he prepared himself for the worst.**

"**Don, Protect your cousin Vito, and guard the Mushroom Kingdom. My chapter in this kingdom is over. Yours is beginning."**

**Don shook his head, now tears streaming from his eyes. He grabbed his fathers hand.**

"**Dad, please keep fighting. I'm not ready to be king yet."**

"**I believe in you. I…believe…in…" Mario's hand went limp. The entire room was frozen. Princess Peach screamed and began to sob uncontrollably. Luigi went to comfort Don. Don continued to shake his head as he screamed loudly.**

**Don stepped forward.**

"**My father…was a great man…a great king and if I can even become half as good of a king as he was…" Don fell crying again.**

**The doctor took the final notes of King Mario and left. In the wake of the Toad Town Invasion the news of Mario's death would devastate the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarsaland.**

**Don quietly vowed vengeance. The Koopas would pay!**

Until Next Time…

_Chapter Four-Rise of Demon_


	4. Rise of Demon

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

**Author's Note: If you read Next-Gen Bros, tell three other people to read it, then tell those three to tell three. And remember, if you read you review!**

**Oh and sorry about being late on Friday. I had a fight with a brother. .**

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

"_Mario and Bowser's duel brings a halt to the entire Toad Town invasion._

"_No 1up Mushrooms in sight plumber. You haven't half a chance," Bowser declared._

_Demon Koopa realizes his grandfather doesn't stand a chance in his current condition and tells him to retreat. However, Mario's pride gets the better of him._

"_And so that's how the Mighty Bowser leaves my Mushroom Kingdom. With his tail stuck in between his legs!"_

_Bowser quickly struck, fatally wounding Mario. On his deathbed Mario surrendered the kingdom to his son, Don._

**And Now…**

**Chapter Four-Rise of Demon**

**Koopa Castle was amidst its twelfth consecutive day with thunderstorms. Bowser was angrily glaring at Demon from his throne.**

"**I could have won." Bowser said finally. Demon looked up at his grandfather. He had been in deep thought about his father's death.**

"**Bowser, keep your head." Demon said. Bowser stood up and roared.**

"**I've just about had it with your arrogance, you bastard. You've been referring to your father and me too formally. Perhaps you've forgotten your place."**

**Demon snarled and glared at his grandfather.**

"**Listen, you know I was thinking in the best interest of this country. Losing two leaders in one battle is not strategically sound."**

**Bowser rushed in front of Demon and bared his teeth.**

"**I'll kill you right now! Are you ready to die, little Amherst?"**

"**With all due respect, you're still far too damaged from the battle with Mario. I would kill you. Stand down, King Bowser."**

**Bowser was embarrassed allow himself to be degraded by his grandson in the manner we was. Demon glared and Bowser. While the two stood off a Snifit entered the throne room.**

"**Lord Bow-Jesus!" Bowser turned his attention to the Snifit and roared, "What is it?"**

"**M-Milord, we have news from the Mushroom Kingdom. It's—well, um…"**

"**Out with it I don't have all day."**

"**Yes. It's King Mario…"**

"**Damn. He's already gloating about his victory? I'll show that fat, Italian son-of-a-bitch…"**

"**No! My lord…Mario has died. It say here in the Toad Town Times 'King Mario, 77, has died from battle wounds inflicted in the Toad Town Invasion."**

**Bowser froze. An evil smile curled on his face. He dismissed the Snifit and demanded no one enter the throne room without his command. It was time to take care of Demon's behavior.**

"**Can't kill Mario can't I? Bwahahaha! I did it! I killed him! Bwahahaha! So Amherst was your little retreat necessary? It looks like I'm quite capable! It's a pity the same can't be said about you."**

**Demon looked at the ground. He figured Mario was made of tougher stuff than that. Demon figured he could have easily survived that last onslaught of attacks. **

_**Perhaps**_**, Demon thought, **_**legends made even as recently as Mario are blown largely out of proportion.**_

**Bowser was breathless. He couldn't believe he had finally succeeded. If tried to imagine the Princess's face. It was priceless, he bet. Tears were streaming down his face.**

"**Demon! Hahaha! Demon…Demon!" Bowser said suddenly panicked. Demon looked up and walked to a failing Bowser.**

"**D-Demon! Help. What's going on? My chest is aflame!" Bowser cried. Demon pieced it together. Bowser got so worked up about Mario's death that he gave himself a heart attack. Demon began to call for a medic when he stopped.**

"**What the hell are you doing, Amherst?" Bowser cried. He was now on the ground writhing in pain. Demon found that he could watch the show and…enjoy it.**

"**Ruthless. I think that's how you once described me," Demon said. Bowser saw it in his grandson's eyes. He was going to watch him die. For once in an immense amount of time, fear swept over the Koopa King.**

"**Yes, it was ruthless. 'Bout time I start living up to that. I guess the first thing to do is to watch you die gramps."**

**Bowser crown had fallen off while he was twitching and screaming. Demon walked over and grabbed the crown and placed it on his head.**

"**You won't be needing this anymore. Will you? Heh. Hail to the mighty Koopa King, laid low by a weak heart attack."**

**Bowser slowly stood up.**

"**No heart attack is going to stop me…I am the King of the Koopas…Now and forever. If you can't understand that, Amherst, you have to die just like the plumber."**

"**Really? Then snatch this crown from my head. If you do, you can play King, Grandpa!"**

**Bowser felt his rage flare up. It was exactly what Amherst had wanted. The increased tension caused Bowser's heart to cave in upon itself. His heart began to become more and more constricted.**

"**You…bastard," Bowser wheezed. Demon smiled as the held the crown out tauntingly.**

"**I told you Grandpa. You're just too old to contend with me. Don't worry. I'll take over the Mushroom Kingdom. Just like you always wished up could. Pity you were too **_**weak!**_**"**

**Bowser clenched his chest. His vision began to become blurred.**

"**May the stars have mercy on your soul," Demon said coldly. Bowser roared as the final spasm crossed his heart. The King of the Koopas fell to the ground in front of Demon face first; his face contorted and twisted in pain. His left eye wrenched shut in pain and his right eye staring in horror at his grandson. What a terror he'd become. He was almost proud.**

"**Farewell, your majesty. I have a kingdom to rule." Demon said as he bowed to the fallen lord.**

Until Next Time…

_Chapter Five- The Laying a Hero to Rest_


	5. Laying A Hero to Rest

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

**Author's Note: Sorry about, not posting in so while. This chapter was a little more difficult to find time to write. Remember Read, Review and tell others about.**

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_Mario is dead._

_After laying his son to rest, Bowser turns to scold Demon about his decision to retreat. However ,Demon stands firm in his decision to the point where he even threatens to fight his grandfather._

_But Demon doesn't have to duel him; after receiving news that Mario had died the Koopa King fell dead from a heart attack!_

**And Now…**

**Chapter Five-Laying a Hero to Rest**

**Don didn't want to wake up and face the harsh realities of the day. It was May 8****th****, his father's funeral. The past week seemed like such a dark nightmare. Toadsworth entered the young king's room.**

**"Master Don…the funeral. The time draws near…" the old Toad said. Don nodded his head and took a deep breath.**

**"Curse the stars," he muttered to himself. He knew the entire kingdom after Mario was buried would demand retribution for the loss of their hero. He wanted revenge too, but he wouldn't dare put any more Toad lives at stake.**

**The funeral itself lasted four hours. The number of lives Mario had touched were more numerous than grains on a sandy beach . Goombario, Lakilester, and a horde of Yoshis came to pay tribute.**

**---**

**As he expected, only a day had passed before Don was bombarded with questions of whether the Mushroom Kingdom would engage Bowser's forces. Don's reply was slightly more frustrated than something Mario would have said.**

**"Damnit! I just buried my father! Obviously I will wage war with Bowser, or rather Demon. We have just received word that Bowser has died so we'll be fighting against a new foe. Give me a week from today and we'll fire up the battalion. But until then I want time to grieve my loss. Is that too much to ask?"**

**---**

**"Father what are we going to do?" Vito asked Luigi as they strolled along an encampment on the eastern border of Sarsaland. **

**"Until very recently, I always lived in Mario's shadow and therefore I used to wait for the Mushroom Kingdom to do anything before I struck. Don needs time to mentally prepare himself to put his country into war," Luigi replied, "I don't want to strike before Don's ready unless Demon forces us."**

**A dark cloud hung over the Mushroom Kingdom as Don picked up his sword and prepared for battle.**

Until Next Time…

_Chapter Six- Invasion of Chai_


	6. Invasion of Chai

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

Author's Note: Okay, I'm back baby! And I am ready to put a hurt on this story! Oh yeah!

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_Immediately after Mario's funeral the question of whether the Mushroom Kingdom would go to war is immediately raised. Don affirms they will go to war with Demon but states that he wants a week off to grieve the loss of his father._

_Ha! If only war worked so easily! For you see, Demon has his eyes set on total dominion and knows a week of ceasefire will give Don enough time to boost his army._

_In the shadows of Koopaland, Amherst prepares…_

And Now…

Chapter Six-Invasion of Chai

May 14th, 2036 (10:00pm)  
Koopa Castle

Koopa Castle was quiet. Amherst had gathered every able bodied Koopa he could find in the kingdom and ushered them to his throne room. The Koopa army was clad in steel armor and armed with claws, explosives, swords and lances.

Amherst walked to the podium and roared.

"Listen here and listen good! Bowser is dead. Those wasted years and decades of shame are behind us! We will not mention that oaf unless I see it fit to. Bowser could not conquer the Mushroom Kingdom because he was not cunning enough. But I…not to brag…have the brains to stop those Marios."

A wave of cheering came from the crowd.

"Shaddup!" Demon roared. Immediately silence befell the army.

"Now…Mario is dead. A great victory, however, Luigi still lives. Good old Kamek has informed me that Luigi and his lordling son Vito have set up a camp on the Sarsaland-Koopaland borders in the southeastern republic of Chai. Don Mario has said he wants to wait a whole two more days before he attacks us."

Demon turned his back to the army and laughed.

"I say we be good hosts and give him hell now. We attack Chai tonight. It's a full's day march. Hammer Bros and Paratroopers will advance first. Paratroopas stay on foot. If you see anything from the Mushroom Kingdom, kill it with extreme swiftness. This is our war and we _will_ win it. Is that understood?"

A rumbling "aye" waved through the battalion.

"Now. MOVE OUT!" Demon yelled and immediately the Koopa Army rushed out heading to Luigi's unsuspecting army.

May 15th, 2036 (8:12am)

Chai Encampment

Luigi rode a Yoshi to the edge of the Sarsaland Borders. He had around seven thousand Toads guarding the border, armed and ready. Vito was not far behind his father, as usual.

A gleam on the horizon caught Vito's eye as he slowed down. He quickly jumped of his Yoshi and rushed to Luigi's side.

"Father! On the horizon!"

Luigi ordered Toadsky, a Toad riding a Lakitu cloud, to fly up and see what the problem was. The news was grim.

"Sir! Amherst is attacking. He must have at least ten thousand soldiers." The Toad cried.

"What?!" Luigi said. He knew full well there was no way his army could hold off those numbers. He'd need the help of Don's troops.

"Toadsky, go and fly to Mushroom Castle and tell Don to send us some men to fight with. Quickly, the situation is dire." Luigi ordered in a hurry. He quickly rushed to stir the warriors for combat as Toadsky flew off.

"Come on! It's time you paid for my brother's blood." Luigi said adopting a fighting stance.

May 15th, 2036 (12:39pm)

Mushroom Castle

Toadsky arrived at the royal palace breathless. He rushed to Don and told him about Luigi's plight.

"He's already invaded?" Don asked angrily. Toadsky could do nothing more than nodded his head "yes". Don turned away.

"My warriors are not ready yet. If we march out now, we put the kingdom at jeopardy," Don said. Toadsky heard and understood what Don meant.

"S-Sir! You can't mean to leave Masters Luigi and Vito alone at Chai?! They will certainly be killed."

"Silence!" Don yelled, "This decision is not one I wish to make. Nor is it one I have made lightly. Tell my uncle and cousin to hold off until tomorrow. If Chai is still in the hands of Sarsaland then we'll march. If Chai has been lost we must regroup. I have spoken."

Toadsky stared at the new king in horror. Don looked down. Was this what his father would have done? What was more important: the life of his brother or the lives of his Royal Army? Don dismissed Toadsky and sat on his throne. He silent cursed Bowser and pleaded to his father.

"Dad, come back. I can't do this. I've only been king a week and I've already messed up."

May 15th, 2036 (3:22pm)

Chai Battlefield

"HE WHAT?!" Vito roared as he cut another Goomba down the middle. Toadsky looked down and silently retold the declaration.

"King Don will not send reinforcements until tomorrow." Toadsky said.

"Damnit! There may not be a Chai tomorrow. Great Stars! What was he thinking?" Vito yelled.

"He says the Mushroom Army won't be ready."

Vito concentrated on the enemy in front of him as Toadsky did some air support. The enemy waves continued for a couple of hours and then began to back off.

"What's going on?" Vito asked. Luigi rushed to his son's side. He checked the horizon. The Koopaland invaders had been beat, badly.

Until Next Time…

_Chapter Seven- Chai II_


	7. Chai II

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_Don Mario has given the official order not to aid Sarsaland in its plight to defeat Demon Koopa. Vito receives the word and his expression could been see as anything but happy._

_Has the son of the legendary Mario turned his back on his uncle's life and nation?_

_Will Demon succeed where Bowser could not?_

And Now…

Chapter VII : Chai II

May 15th, 2036 (4:00pm)  
Chai Battlefield

"That couldn't have been all of them" Luigi said calmly. Vito had taken a small battalion and was riding through the battlezone ensuring the Koopaland invaders were dead and checking for any survivors.

"Master Vito…" Toadsky started. Vito silenced him with a raised hand. He thought he saw a twitching Koopa and ended the enemy's misery with a thrust of his raiper.

"He…he abandoned us…In our hour of need…my own cousin. The son of the great Mario. He…_**abandoned us!**_" Vito screamed, In his blind rage he decapitated the Koopa he thought was twitching. He turned to Toadsky about ready to burst in an ocean of tears.

"Why…" He fell to his knees near a fallen toad civilian than may have been only ten years old.

"I know war has its causalties but…if the Mushroom Kingdom had helped us. We could've held them off… We could have beat them at the border…He didn't have to die."

"Son." Luigi said to the broken prince. "We can only play with the cards we're dealt. Today we won but there was a price to pay. Who's to say that if Don had have sent his forces today we'd be too weak to fight tomorrow."

Vito stood up and looked at the surviving Sarsaland army. Weakened and confused. Battered and bruised. What alarmed Vito most was Luigi's first statement.

"_That couldn't have been all of them…"_

"We definitely can't hold off another assault…" Vito said grimly. Luigi took a glance off into the horizon. He turned toward Vito with a look of absolutely despair.

"We don't have a choice. Here they come."

Clouds had stopped smiling and turned gray. The Demon Koopa army advanced with breakneck speed. Vito managed one word:

"Shit."

May 15th, 2036 (6:27pm)

Mushroom Kingdom Throne Room

Don was still wrestling with his demons. He hadn't left the spot where he, coldly was the adjective he decided most aptly described his action, rejected the Sarsaland plea. He believed what he did to be the most logical thing to have been done but his heart was screaming he was as heartless as Demon.

No. He wasn't as heartless as new King of Koopas. He crumbled in his throne as he contemplated the terrible thought that he, the son of the great Mario, was worse than the spawn of Bowser.

Queen Peach was heard outside the throne room in little fragments. No more than a few syallables could be heard at a time until she exploded from behind the door. About ten of the Mushroom Kingdom's finest were trying to restrain her but the golden hair queen would not be subdued.

"What the hell is your problem? You're just going to abandon Sarsaland?"

Don looked at his mother. Never before had he seen such passion in her eyes. Don looked down and his eyes began to water from shame.

"Father. Your shoes are too big to fill. I've failed as a king…"

"Stop that. Stop it right now." Peach ordered. Don looked up.

"We all make mistakes. I can't tell you how many times I could've avoided being kidnapped by Bowser by taking the right turn at Albuquerque. But we learn from our mistakes and make better. We can grieve for Mario after we've made the one responsible for his death pay."

"Mom…" Don stood up. "She's right. Ready the troops. Send word to my uncle. The Mushroom Kingdom rides now! Demon will pay for the sins of his father!"

May 15th, 2036 (7:11pm)

Chai Battlefield

"How have we survived this long?" Vito asked Toadsky. Toadsky, armed with nothing more than a small magician's staff, clubbed an oncoming Goomba.

"Either a really convenient plot hole or Demon isn't attacking full force…" Toadsky half-joked. The prince took the latter as the fact. The Koopa had the manpower to completely decimate the Chai survivors if they attacked in one large sweep. However, under the orders of the Koopa King, they had simply been attacking in small waves. The waves would claim the lives of maybe a toad or two before being completely wiped out.

Vito screamed at the top of his lungs, "Demon! What is the meaning of this?" Demon walked up to the prince. He was clad in a long, flowing black cape. He smiled with all the good intentions of a Venus Flytrap.

"My prince. How are you this fine day?" Demon said amiably. Vito frowned and growled. Demon looked taken aback.

"My, my. Are we not in a good today? Has something befallen you? Uncle die?" Demon cruelly laughed. He looked around.

"I wish to deal with King Luigi. But what interests me the more is that I've not seen a single banner with the Mushroom Kingdom's insignia emblazoned on it. What's the deal with that?"

"My cousin…"

"…_**is here to help!**_"

Vito turned around and found himself in the epitome of a Disney moment. Don was ready with the full force of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Don! What took you so long?" Vito roared.

"I had to accept my position. I may never be as great leader as my father was. But I will go down in Mushroom history as the king of the Mushroom Kingdom when the last of the Koopas was brought to justice!" Don said glaring at Demon.

"Hmmm. What a Disney moment…" Demon said. "However, I have no intention of being brought to justice as you say. Now taste the full power of the darkness that is Koopaland! Koopa Pack! Attack!!!"

Until Next Time…

**Chapter VIII : The Clash**

A / W: Review please and as always tell a friend.


	8. The Clash

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

Disclaimer: The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_The Sarsaland Army has fended off the Koopaland invaders but Luigi noted the impossibility of that being the whole Koopa army._

_And to the disdain of the Chai warriors, King Luigi is right._

_Meanwhile, King Don, after getting a chewing out from the Queen, rides to his family's aid._

_Demon is calling the Marios out in a grand finale style battle._

_But will the combined power of the Sarsaland and Mushroom Kingdom army be enough to extinguish the demon…Demon?_

And Now…

**Chapter VIII  
The Clash**

May 15th, 2036 (8:03pm)  
Chai Battlefield

Demon snarled once at the Koopaland army. He growled something in Koopaspeak to the effect, "Here is where we erase the name of Mario from the universe. Let nobody look to this day with happiness. Let the fools who oppose us look to the sky with despair. And let no voice be heard with joy the day that we unleashed hell on our foes!"

A sly Koopa noted that the pep speech sounded like it had been ripped from various movies and was killed on the spot by Demon.

The Koopaland army charged at the combined forces of the Mario backed warriors with a sickening crunch. Steel met armor. Flesh was sliced. Bones were broken. But the warriors fought on hard with a spirit of bloodlust imbued into them. On more than one occasion Don had to deliver the coup de grace to a Koopa who was fighting despite having an appendage hacked clean off.

"Toadsky. Stay with me." Vito ordered. The retainer listened and made the small comment, "I have practiced some magic."

"Then why haven't you used it yet?" Vito questioned. Toadsky knew it was because the effect would always have a greater or weaker effect than what was intended. But he decided now was as good as anytime to practice.

"I don't know sir but here I go! _**Heat Shot!**_" Toadsky waved his wand and launched a small blast of fire at a Koopa engaged with a Yoshi. The shot hit with a minimal effect. The Koopa turned and began to roar.

"Meep! _**Heat Spread!**_" Toadsky tried again. This time a large fireball roared forward, incinerating the Koopa and engulfed a small area around it in flames. He silently thanked Merlon and adopted a stance showing Vito he was ready to battle.

Demon meanwhile was having his way with the valiant Mushroom fighters. No Toad was foolish enough to try and attack the Koopa King alone. They would form small groups of five or six and surround Demon. However, Demon would merely cleave with his claws or incinerate the Toads along with two or three Koopas.

Luigi had noticed this battle technique and knew that Demon only wanted to control the world. His warriors, his minions meant nothing to him. And that's is where he was chiefly different from Bowser.

"Men…cover me. It's time I did some serious negotiations with King Demon." Luigi ordered. The toads surrounding him equipped some weaponry from the fallen Koopas and marched toward the

King of the Koopas.

"_**Shotgun!**_" Toadsky screamed as he launched a small burst of energy at a Koopa. It had done less than expected but it did knock over the Koopa allowing a Toad to finish the job. A couple of Buzzy Beetles had lined up to battle the little magician. He calmed his mind and searched for a spell that would break their defenses. "_**DuoFist!**_"

Don had begun to slow down. He silently remarked that he was getting out of shape. He agilely dodged a Koopa attack and did away with the enemy's head with a single swift stroke.

Suddenly all the Koopas began to fall back. Vito triumphantly declared they had the Koopas on the run.

"So you're calling the Koopas back here? Are you going to gang up on me?" Luigi asked. Demon faced his opponent.

"No my good man. I see now that the spirit of the Mushroom Kingdom will not be broken in one day. I accept this. However, I believe I can wound it something fierce if you were to die right here." Demon said.

"So you're retreating. Regardless of the outcome of our little skirmish?" Luigi cautiously asked.

Demon nodded. Luigi adopted a fighting stance, sword drawn and ready to fight.

"I can see it in your eyes. You already know what will happen here. I will kill you and it will be up to your son to finish me."

Luigi looked down. He knew at that moment that was what had gone through his mind.

"Whether I die or not is irrelevant. Whether you die is the heart of the matter." Luigi responded.

"Very well. My Koopas are already coming back to me. Die knowing that I am a Koopa of my word."

"Demon Koopa! Here I come!"

Until Next Time…

**Chapter IX : The Green Offensive**

Author's Note:

1. Yes, as the deceased Koopa noted Demon's speech is a bunch of movie pep talks sewn together. The words aren't verbatim because I can't remember them. The bulk of it though is from Davy Jones in POTC: Dead Man's Chest.

2. All of Toadsky's magic spells are named after Battlechips in Megaman Battle Network. Don't expect him to use Navi chips though…

3: The 'serious negotiations' line was inspired by Rinoa on Final Fantasy VIII. She says this right before confronting President Vinzer Deling.


	9. The Green Offensive

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by WriteMan.exe

Disclaimer: The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Sorry about the chapters being so short. I did this so people don't get bogged down in one chapter and are like "my God, SO much scrolling!" However in a bit chapters will get a bit longer. I mean not by like ten pages or anything but maybe to six pages or so. So…get ready.

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_The Koopaland Invaders have charged at the Sarsaland defenders, an assault that would normally have ended with disastrous consequences…that is if the Mushroom Kingdom had not aided in the fray._

_Demon Koopa, annoyed with how long the invasion is taking, orders his Koopa Army to fallback._

_However, before he goes…he's going to challenge King Luigi to a winner takes all battle royale._

_He has promised that regardless of whether the Green King emerges victorious or not, his Koopa will retreat for the day._

_But can Demon really be trusted?  
Can the King of Sarsaland dethrone the King of Koopas? _

And Now…

**Chapter IX**

**The Green Offensive  
**

May 15th, 2036 (10:15pm)  
Chai Battlefield

The evening sky had lingered on a bit longer than anticipated. The duel between the king of Sarsaland and the King of Koopas would be fought with a pink horizon out.

"The stars will weep for you…" Demon wistfully said. Luigi dug into the ground and adopted a fighting stance. A quiet wind blazed through the area where the fight would begin. The two viciously eyeballed each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Demon smiled and let a small "Boo" escape his mouth before dashing towards Luigi. Luigi waited until the last conceivable second before dodging Demon's claw. He then spun around and knocked Demon back with a roundhouse kick.

"Who do you think you are? Chuck Norris?" Demon roared. Luigi smugly smiled.

"Whatever gets the job done.

May 15th, 2036 (10:17pm)  
Elsewhere on the Chai Battlefield

"Come on! Press forward! They're pulling back!" Vito triumphantly declared as the Koopa began to turn tail and rush back to their leader. Vito, not one to miss an opportunity, charged forward with the strength of his entire company behind him. Don was having fun killing Koopaland warriors as he saw them.

"Toadsky, do you know any defensive spells yet?" Vito asked his young ally. Toadsky looked up. He noticed a Paratroopa trying to drop a Bom-Omb on a small group of unsuspecting Toad Knights. "_**Bubbler!**_" Toadsky screamed as he blasted a barrage of bubbles from his wand that entrapped the Paratrooper and his explosive. The enemy cursed quietly as the bomb went off inside the bubble, killing the both of them.

"Yeah. I know one but…I can't use it." Toadsky said. Vito used his sword to tip over a large Buzzy Beetle. He then kicked it, effectively knocking out eight koopas. A small chime was heard.

"Why not. We may need defensive cover soon." Vito protested. Toadsky looked down at a hurt Toad.

"_**Recovery 200.**_" He said softly as the Toad watched his wounds heal almost immediately under the cover of a faint white light.

"I can do recovery spells for right now. Just believe me when I say I don't want to use this spell until it is absolutely necessary."

"Okay. I'll trust you." Vito said. Toadsky nodded and smiled. He then adopted a fighting stance and held his staff out like a sword.

"_**LongSword!**_"

May 15th, 2036 (10:20pm)  
The Duel 

_I should be able to keep up with this old man_ Demon ruefully hissed. But so far the duel had been tipping in favor of the green king. Luigi had yet to use his sword. Demon growled and charged again.

"Hmph. Give that technique some rest!" Luigi screamed as he ducked and tripped Demon. As the Koopa King fell Luigi gave it a high kick in the stomach. Demon fell to the ground and spit up some blood.

Demon shook his head and cracked his knuckles. He laughed a little and then faced Luigi. Luigi warily eyed his opponent.

"What's so funny? I'm two sword slices away from making turtle soup out of you!" Luigi declared. He could recall a time he had ever been this confident about anything. Maybe he could kill Demon. Maybe he could end the Invasion right here. With his own two hands.

_"Watch Mario! Watch as I avenge you._" Luigi thought. Demon was still laughing. Luigi looked around and saw the Koopaland army surrounding him.

"You lying bastard! You swore-" Luigi started. But Demon cut him off.

"That it would be between me and you. And that is how it shall remain. However, I will make sure the same rule applies for you. It would be fair if Don or Vito came in and attacked me would it?"

Luigi stood straight up and relaxed. "I guess that would be unfair." He finally said. Demon laughed.

"Good. Now then, will you fight me for real? All this time you've been holding back. Cut loose. Have some fun." Demon said. Luigi chewed on this thought for a second. Had he been holding back? No, he'd been fighting full-force. He had no reason to hold back. But if Demon thought he was holding back then that meant…

"I-I'm not challenging him…" Luigi whispered quietly. The mental assault had worked. Demon swaggered to the Sarsaland king and smiled.

"If you really wanted me dead you'd have drawn your sword by now. But I see you don't mean to kill me. You're weak…and the weak will never be able to kill me…the end."

Luigi flashedback to when he and Mario were little. No matter what happened Luigi always seem to be to weak to save the day. Mario always saved him. He never could get the job done. He never was the hero…

"No more…" Luigi whispered. Demon tauntingly leaned in.

"What was that?"

In one swift motion Luigi drew his sword and sliced Demon across the face. Demon staggered back and placed a hand, er…claw, over the bleeding wound.

"No longer am I weak. I am Luigi! King of Sarsaland and I will kill you to avenge my brother!"

"Tough words punk. Come and test your mettle!" Demon snarled.

May 15th, 2036 (10:49pm)

Circle around the Duel

The Koopaland invaders had formed a circle around the Luigi-Demon duel but their numbers were fading fast. With no orders other than to stand guard, they were easy prey for the combined Mushroom forces.

"Toadsky. Got anything?" Vito asked as he skewered a Koopa Knight through his armor. Toadsky thought for a second and snapped his fingers.

"_**Invis1**_" Toadsky said as he slowly turned transparent. Vito panicked and loudly questioned where he'd gone.

"I've made myself invisible. That way I can go and sneak in and see what the Koopa's are hiding here. I can go through them completely unharmed so don't worry."

Vito nodded. However, since Toadsky was invisible, he nodded in the wrong direction and Don got the nod.

"What the hell is wrong with my cousin?"

Toadsky silently crawled through the enemy lines. A dead Toad who had been unarmed fell on top and through Toadsky's head. He saw the Toad and gave out a small yelp. Thankfully, the clanging of the weapons was so loud he went unnoticed. He finally made his way to the center ring and saw…

May 15th, 2036 (10:52pm)

The Duel

Luigi slashed at Demon but this time the wily Koopa dodged the swipe with a marked look of deftness.

"Can you feel it. That little birdie inside you screaming at the top of its feathered lungs. It screams "_I can't do it._"

"Shut up. You've yet to hit me!" Luigi arrogantly yelled.

"A fact of this battle I intend to change right now." Demon roared as he plowed forward and drilled a closed fist into Luigi's jaw. The king flew backwards and landed in a heap.

"Hmph. So much for a flawless victory." Demon sneered.

"I'll still come off with the fatality!" Luigi shot back and charged with his sword trailing behind him, Demon dodged the swipe and picked Luigi up high in the air before slamming him brutally onto the ground.

"Hmph. What an easy little duel this turned out to be." Demon triumphantly roared. Luigi jumped to and adopted a fighting stance.

Toadsky watched in awe as the battle continued to rage on. Luigi, surprisingly agile for someone nearing eighty, traded punches, kicks and slices with the dark Koopa until both were battered and scared. Luigi's right arm was cut to essentially the bone while the entire right side of his face was slashed. Demon didn't look too much better: his shell and underside were viciously torn up. His right eye lay some ten inches from Toadsky.

"There is some fight left in you." Demon managed to say with a river of blood pouring into his mouth from the eye wound.

"Watch as it extinguishes the light from your eyes and your darkness from this world!" Luigi said as he made a final charge at Demon. Demon braced himself and as soon as Luigi was with in striking distance he made a final swipe. The slash would have no doubt beheaded Luigi had he not bounded in the air, something he would later admit he hadn't done since Super Mario Bros. 2. Luigi executed an amazing forward flip and drove his sword deep into the shell of Demon. The sword stuck halfway in the shell before stopping. Demon staggered forward. Luigi turned around and leapt in the air once more.

"When you go to Hell, tell Bowser I send my regards!" Luigi said he kicked the sword's hilt driving it through the Koopa's shell and through his underside.

"But…" Demon whispered as he staggered forward. He turned to face Luigi. He glanced down at the fatal sword.

"That's not a good thing…congratualations…" Demon said softly. "Be a pal and tip me to fall on the side…I don't want to fall…on this sword."

Before Luigi could move the demented Koopa fell backward and slid down the sword before the lack of balance tipped him to the side. Luigi bowed and faced the enclosing circle of Koopaland invaders.

"Demon?! Impossible…" a high ranking Koopa said in shock. He immediately gave the order to retreat. Toadsky's Invis ran out just as the retreat order was given.

"We-we did it." Luigi tiredly said. Vito and Don smiled. The Mushroom Kingdom Army had emerged victorious.

"It's curious though…" Don said quietly.

Luigi turned to his nephew.

"What's curious?" Luigi asked.

"Oh, it's probably nothing. It's just I crossed swords with Demon during the battle-" Luigi stopped and cut him off.

"When…" Luigi asked.

"When what?" Don asked.

"When did you fight Demon?!" Luigi roared.

"While the Koopas were retreating. Why?"

"That's impossible. Demon started fighting me _after_ he called the fallback." Luigi said.

"Maybe Don imagined it?" Vito said. Don shot him a deathglare. Then it hit all four of them instantly. Luigi ordered the two princes and Toadsky to follow him to Demon's corpse.

Luigi stared in awe.

"No…it can't be…"

Laying on the ground, pierced through the stomach laid the enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, it wasn't Demon.

It was Kamek.

Until Next Time…

**Chapter X : The Cunning Koopa**


	10. The Cunning Koopa

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Webcomic Central (Eric Merritt)

Disclaimer: The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Authour's Note: I just noticed the first so many chapters say by Writeman.exe. That was my old pen name. I stopped using the email that Writeman.exe is under and consenquently I forgot it. So I brought my fanfic under my new email. I'm not jacking anyone's story.

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_Demon Koopa and Luigi engaged in a duel to the death while the Koopaland invaders retreated._

_The two warriors exchanged blow for blow but when the dust cleared the winner was the green gladiator, Luigi!_

_But after the Koopas had completely fled Luigi made a terrible discovery. The enemy he had felled was not Demon at all._

_It was Kamek_

And Now…

**Chapter X**

**The Cunning Koopa  
**

May 15th, 2036 (11:00pm)  
Chai Battlefield

"This just isn't possible." Toadsky quietly sighed. "The war was almost over." Luigi fell to his knees.

"That was Kamek…I fought Kamek and could barely win…I'm no match for Demon…" Luigi said. Vito rushed over to his dad and kneeled beside him.

"Look, you beat Kamek who was a near perfect carbon-copy of Demon. If you could fell Kamek acting as Demon then why can't you match Demon?"

Toadsky quietly piped up, "Unfortunately King Luigi is right." Vito turned sharply around and glared at the magic toad.

"What do you mean? Why can't he win?" Vito roared.

"Because, like you said, Kamek was a _**near**_ perfect copy of Demon. It requires a great amount of concentration for a magician to maintain transformation magic under any circumstance. Judging by the amount of damage King Luigi caused, Kamek had to focus so hard that Luigi was fighting a foe maybe about 35 as strong as Demon." Toadsky said. The percentage hit Luigi like a ton of bricks.

"What good am I then?" Luigi muttered. Don and Vito stared at the corpse of Kamek. Toadsky waved his wand.

"I'm sorry I can't look at this any more. We've gotta go."

"Go, where?"

"To the Castle. Don, with the permission of Prince Vito and King Luigi, I invite you and your soldiers to stay at Castle Sarsaland for the night. We should go ahead and plan for our next move."

Don stepped away from the group.

"My men and I must head back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Can you take us there?" Don asked. Toadsky nodded and then stopped.

"What's the matter?" Don asked impatiently.

"So..I only can do a teleportation spell if I'm included. I can't send people yet…" Everyone did a generic anime fall.

"Well," Don started. "We can go to Mushroom Castle and then to Sarsaland's. That way you only have to make two trips."

"Okay. _**AreaSteal!**_" The two princes, king and the mushroom magician along with the rest of the Mushroom/Sarsaland army were engulfed in a bright white light. Then particle by particle they turned to dust and disappeared. The Chai battlefield still reeked of death. The ground was still littered with the bodies of the fallen Toads, Yoshis and Koopa. At the center laid Kamek.

May 16th, 2036 (12:00am)

Chai Outskirts, Koopa Encampment

A small butterfly floated overhead and dove down to view the unusual creatures that had set up shop near the flower patch he normally would take refuge in. They were for the most part bruised and cut. More than one of them was missing some visible appendage. The butterfly continued his observation as the creatures stood up and continued to march southward. While following them he came upon a brutish looking one with blazing orange eyes. The creature spit out some blood and rubbed a wound on his stomach.

"Hello there," the creature said before incinerating the butterfly with a small puff of fire.

May 16th, 2036 (8:02am)

Koopaland War Room

"Hmm…it would seem my diversion didn't work as planned," Demon said. He looked at the lakitu standing before him. "That is what you are telling me correct?"

"Yes sir! I was spying on the battlefield remains and I noted Luigi and the two lordlings looking over the body of Kamek," Lakitu said. Demon sat on his throne and mulled over the information he received.

"So that means that they know I'm not dead. That mess up my surprise attack plan." Demon said with a sound of sorrow. The Lakitu had a question burning inside him but he dared not question the Koopa King. However, Demon saw the question trying to escape the Lakitu's mouth.

"Speak your mind. What is it you wonder about?" Demon asked. The Lakitu nervously looked down and thought to his high school buddy who had made the pep speech crack.

"It's just…why do we need to surprise attack the Mushroom Kingdom? Do we not have the manpower?" Lakitu asked. Demon nodded his head approvingly.

"Interesting question. I like your point. If we have the manpower, then why not just rush the Mushroom Kingdom and drown them in wave after wave of enemies," Demon said. He stood up causing the Lakitu to move back a few inches.

"You see, that's the Bowser mentality speaking. Bowser would've done something like that. He was brutish. Strong. I'll credit him with that," Demon stopped and tapped his temple with a claw, "But he had nothing up here. You see, our enemy will find some way to ingrain themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom. We can't go in Andy Gump and expect to win. We must pop up here, pop up there. Then when a bit of their outskirt defenses have been weakened we strike a large city, not the capital but somewhere important. Then retreat."

"Retreat? Why? From the sound of it at this point the war would be in our control!" The Laiktu protested. He quickly thought about what he had done and bowed.

"No need to bow. I like that boldness. Here, allow me to explain. Like you said, at this point the war would be in our control. However, being so deep in enemy territory risks them closing in around us and attack our army on all sides. At this point, even if we could hold them off, we'd lose so many warriors we'd have to do an unconditional surrender." Demon said. His voice hadn't raised a decibel since the surprise attack line.

"So we retreat. To lure them into Koopaland?" The Lakitu asked. Demon smiled and nodded.

"Exactly. That way we'll be fighting on our home-turf. We can ingrain ourselves and dish out the damage while being constantly reinforced. Even if they manage to gain a small foothold there will be no way they will be able to completely wipe out the Koopaland army."

"I see your Koopaness."

"You've given me confidence in my plan. Good job minion. What's your name?"

"Lakilester. But you can call me Spike."

"So my lord what's our next move?

"General Spike, have you heard of the legend of the Seven Stars?"

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XI : The Legend of The Seven Stars**

As always please review.


	11. The Legend of the Seven Stars

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt (webcomiccentral)

Disclaimer: The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: I'm going to assume by now, everyone tuning in knows that this takes place in 2036 so…it won't show up in the scene transitions anymore.

Previously on Next Gen Bros.

_Demon Koopa has discovered his trick to have Kamek pose as him failed to confound his opponents. He quickly comes up with another plan. One that will eventually force the Mushroom Kingdom into his backyard._

_But are his sights on something else as well?_

_"General Spike. Have you heard the Legend of The Seven Stars?"_

And Now…

**Chapter XI**

**The Legend of the Seven Stars  
**

**May 16 (8:13am)**

**Sarsaland Castle, Vito's Room**

"And basically that's how you play Texas Hold 'em," Vito said to Toadsky. The young magician looked confusedly at his hand. He thought a pair of Marios was a good hand but then again this was his first time playing. Just as Toadsky was going to lay down his hand there was a knock at the door. With a sigh of relief he laid his cards on the table and proclaimed he'd get the door.

"You just don't want to get beat!" Vito said. Toadsky looked over at Vito and smiled. He reached to open the door.

"Yeah. I guess that's…" Toadsky said and then stopped. Vito looked over at his friend and asked what was wrong. Toadsky staggered back a few steps and fell to his knees. A single rapier was protruding from his chest as he fell backwards, profusely bleeding.

"_**Toadsky!**_" Vito cried as he rushed to the fallen magician.

"G-get away! D-Demon!" Toadsky muttered mustering the lasts of his strength. He sat up and coughed up some blood. He looked up at Vito and smiled as the light faded from his eyes. Vito shook him slowly trying to revive his comrade, but to no avail.

"What a pity…" a dark and sinister voice said. Vito drew his sword from its sheath. The voice belonged to no one but Demon Koopa. He had come alone, and as Vito could see in the background behind him, had completely eradicate to earn the right to stand before the Sarsaland Prince.

The cruel Koopa towered over the broken body of the Toad magician.

"He had a lot of potential. Don't think for a second that his efforts have been unnoticed."

"It ends here Demon!" Vito said. However as the prince slashed with his sword, Demon disappeared in a cloud of mist and appeared behind the Prince.

"Say what?!" Vito exclaimed as Demon plunged his talons into his back. Vito got ready to scream but he found he couldn't. His world started to swirl black in front of him.

"Good night prince. Grrraaaah!" Demon scream as he swiped his claws for the final blow.

**May 16 ( 8:35am )  
Sarsaland Castle, Vito's Room**

"No…Demon…"

"Prince Vito?"

"Get back!" Vito screamed as he jumped from the bed and grabbed the person closest to him by the throat. This person would be King Luigi, who Vito immediately released and begged forgiveness.

"Don't worry about that. What I'm more curious about is that dream. Whatever you were dreaming about made you attack the first thing you saw, or thought you saw," Luigi asked.

Vito noticed he was still wearing the underarmor from the previous night battle. He rubbed his eyes and reached over to put his plumber's cap on. The prince yawned loudly.

"I was fighting Demon. That's all. It's natural I'd be dreaming that, seeing as how he's invaded us and all," Vito said flatly. He turned to try and go back to sleep but Luigi threw the covers from the bed.

"No, that's not all. Get up, brush your teeth and put on something nice along with riding armor. We're going to the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest sage, Merlon."

"That old man? He's got to be well over a hundred by now. Are you sure he's all together?" Vito asked incredulously as he sat up and yawned again. Luigi grimly looked at Vito.

"Yes, he's more on target than you think."

**May 16 ( 10:12 am )**

**Sarsaland Castle Front Gate**

The sun nary started to come out when the two royals mounted their horses and began to ride out to the Mushroom Kingdom. While they were riding, Vito had a question burning in his mind so he took a deep breath and started.

"You and uncle Mario used to do other things than just save Auntie Peach and Mom, right?" Vito asked. Luigi nodded and nudged his horse, telling it to go faster.

"Yeah, Your uncle and me would have wild parties and golf, play tennis and go go-karting. The funny thing is Bowser would even join us in those things and never act like a enemy. I mean he'd try to beat us but not kill us or kidnap Queen Peach," Luigi laughed thinking of the good old days. A particular memory came to mind and he began to laugh like a crazy old man.

"This one wild party, this shy guy walked up to Donkey Kong-" Luigi started. The prince already didn't like where the conversation was going and quickly interjected.

"No! This is not where I meant for this conversation to head! I was going to ask, if you guys used to go karting, then why are we riding horses right now?" Vito asked.

"Oh! I gotcha," the green king replied. He shrugged his shoulders and honestly answered, "I haven't got a clue."

**May 16 ( 11:29 am)**

**Toad Town**

Toadsky gone ahead to tell King Don that Prince Vito and Luigi would be arriving in the Mushroom Kingdom, so Don and Queen Peach were at the city gates when the Sarsaland duo arrived. Don immediately rushed over to his cousin shook his hand.

"Hey cousin. I heard from Toadsky that we're consulting Merlon today. What's going on?" Vito immediately put his head down and looked away. Luigi punched Vito's shoulder with all the strength he could muster. The prince yelped and rubbed his arm where the king had hit.

"I had a dream that I was fighting Demon. He killed Toadsky and I think he got me too. I woke up before he did the finishing blow," Vito said. Don looked confusedly at his Uncle.

"Is that all? Doesn't that make sense? We are at war. I think it'd be only natural he'd have a dream about fighting Demon." Don said finally. Toadsky silently agreed and looked at King Luigi. Luigi shook his head no.

"I'm interested in something and that is why we are going to speak with Merlon," King Luigi said, and to punctuate that the word on the matter was final, he remounted his horse and followed the road to Merlon's tent.

**May 16 [12:00pm**

**Merlon's Tent**

The wizard toad was reclining in a stool seated by a small round table. Instead of the crystal bal that usually would adorn a table of this location, there laid only a small pendant.

Luigi nudged the old codger until he began to stir.

"This is Mushroom Pizza. Merlon here to take your order…" The wizard said in a dazed stupor.

"No, no. Merlon it's Luigi. You helped my brother a lot. Do you remember?" Luigi said in a voice slightly quieter than a yell.

"Mario! Yes, I remember him. His star faded from the sky recently yes?" Merlon asked. Luigi confirmed the fact with a small grunt. Don growled and slyly thought to himself,_ "At least the old fool knows who he is now…_"

"An old fool am I?" Merlon said standing up. He grabbed a nearby cane and smacked the young king over the head, causing him to fall to the ground and cover his head.

"If I'm an old fool then how do I know why you are here?" Merlon indignantly asked.

"So you know the situation?" Luigi asked expectantly. Merlon stared at the Sarsaland king and then idiotically laughed, "I haven't a clue!"

"Look. My father here thinks there's something strange with a dream I had this morning," Vito said. He sat on the ground, as he didn't see any other chairs in the room, and looked at the Toad Wizard.

"Well I'm no psychic…" Merlon started, but before he could finish Don screamed, "But you're a wizard Merlon! That's the next best thing!"

'Quiet Don!" Vito started, "Look the dream was pretty simple. I was playing poker with Toadsky over there when we heard a knock at the door. Toadsky opened the door only to find that Demon was the guest. Demon immediately murdered Toadsky with a rapier. I went over to fight him but when I got ready to make two clean halves of him, he disappeared…" Merlon's eyes widened.

"Be more specific boy! Disappear can mean a lot of things. How did he do it? With a flash of light? Smoke bomb?"

"No…he basically turned into a gaseous vapor and appeared behind me. And then…he tried to kill me. But that's when I woke up." Vito said. Merlon shook his head.

"As far as we know Demon is not skilled in magic. Not many Koopa are to begin with and Morton, Demon's father, was far too stupid to even try. I would doubt Demon got much magic tutoring."

"So then it's _**is**_ a dream." Don said.

"If you don't respect me I'll turn you into a Bom-Omb!" Merlon said, waving his cane menacingly. He coughed and then continued, "Unfortunately, Demon having no background in magic is the worst thing that could happen in this scenario."

"Why is that?" Luigi asked. Merlon shook his head.

"King, you of all people gathered here should know why. What other mystical power flows through our world. Where does our life essence come from?"

"A Nintendo…" Don slyly said. His head soon became the victim of Merlon's wrath. Luigi thought for a bit while the elder toad went to town on the Mushroom Kingdom ruler.

"The Star Spirits?" he finally said.

"Ah, you do remember. Yes. The only way for Demon to get those kind of powers would be to take them from the Stars." Merlon said. Vito smiled and stood up.

"Then there's nothing to worry about. The Star Spirits are safe in Star Road with Geno. As long as he's there we have nothing to worry about." Merlon sat down on his stool.

"Maybe. Then maybe not…from what I can see in the future-" Merlon started. Don prepared to remind Merlon about his statement claiming he wasn't a psychic but the thought of the cane coming in contact with him again made him shudder. Merlon saw the Mushroom King shrink and continued, "Demon is much more cunning than his father. And we must remember. The Stars have not met Demon. While they may sense the evil in Demon, who's to say there isn't some way he can trick them? At any rate the most likely cause of Demon's powers in your dream Prince Vito, is he got the power of the stars."

"Then we haven't a choice. We must go to Star Road and prevent him!" Luigi said. Merlon nodded.

"I think that would be the most appropriate of plans. Luigi please wait here." Merlon ushered the two cousins out of his tent and drew Luigi close. He began to say something but then stopped.

"Toadsky. You must leave too." The small toad had been hiding up under the table. He slowly began to walk out when Merlon stopped him.

"Take that pendant. I can sense a spell in you. It is a strong spell. You've wanted to use it before but you knew of its dire consequences. With that pendant you will be able to use it."

Toadsky's eyes lit up but the old toad wasn't finished.

"But if you use it too much, you will lose yourself. Understand." Toadsky nodded and placed the pendant around his neck. Luigi walked to Merlon and kneeled.

"Luigi, you know what I'm about to say right?" Merlon started. Luigi had an idea but he decided he wanted to be completely sure so he said no.

"Your brother, yourself, me…we aren't the protectors of this world anymore. It's in the hands of our offspring and kin. We can't baby them forever. Our shadows grow long and the hourglass is getting emptier. Do you follow?"

"…Yes…" Luigi said. He stopped. He had another question but he was afraid to ask it. He had to know though.

"How much longer?"

"It's not a burden I can put on you. Your fate is so terrible, I wouldn't wish it on Demon himself," Merlon said sadly.

"Then I will continue until the Darkness claims me." Luigi said finally.

"That's what I wanted to hear. Good luck, and may the Stars watch over you." Merlon said and he fell asleep.

Luigi looked around. He had never felt older and yet, he was excited. "_There may not be much time left in me_," the king thought, "_but with every second I have, I'll make Demon pay!_"

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XII: Geno**

As always please review.


	12. Geno

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Review! Please! Oh, and by reading Wikipedia I've found that Sarsaland is supposed to be Sarasaland. Umm…does anyone mind if I continue misspelling Luigi's kingdom? If so, send me a message or something. Oh and sorry for being late. Work is a bitch.

_Still haunted by the horrors of the previous day, the Prince of Sarsaland is having terrible nightmares. The most recent? Demon single handedly decimated the Sarsaland Castle Guard en route to murdering Toadsky and finishing the Prince himself. But King Luigi is wary of these dreams and immediately rushes off to the Mushroom Kingdom and consults Merlon. The wizard imparts his belief that these are no random dreams, but a foreshadowing that Demon has his sights on the Power of the Stars. With great haste the cousins rush to Star Road to defend the ancient power._

_Merlon also gave Toadsky a pendant that will allow him to use some of his stronger spells. But what are they? _

_And the Toad wizard has already predicted that Luigi will die a death he'd not wish on Demon._

_So the question is…what the heck is gonna happen next?_

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XII**

**Geno  
**

**May 16 (12:00 pm)**

**Koopa Castle [currently petitioned to be renamed Demon Bastille**

Demon sat on his throne and cocked his head to one side. He was still musing over the seven stars idea. But more pressing was the matter with Kamek. He found it interesting that the recon units brought in reports that showed Kamek's cause of death to be massive blood loss from being impaled through the stomach. He'd started to notice that he would randomly clutch his stomach in pain. It had begun to fade but every now then he'd feel a pang and wince.

"Kamek…" Demon quietly said. He turned his attention to General Spike. The Lakitu was washing his shades with some rainwater from the cloud he was floating on.

"So are we going to attack Star Road and seize the power of the Seven Stars ourselves?" Spike asked. Demon simply shook his head no.

"Getting all seven is too much hassle. Even then the Stars would begin to conspire against us. I only want the power of a couple of the Stars." Demon said flatly. Spike began to wonder about the Koopa King's ambitions.

"If I figure right, the Mario kin will eventually assume that I will go for the Stars. That is actually what I want. For you see there is a fatal safe on the Stars. My grandfather put it there not long after his defeat. I believe you were there."

"Yes my lord I was." Spike said. He thought about the Paper Mario Battles. He saved Mario from Huff N' Puff and joined Mario.

"Why did you betray the Mushroom Kingdom, Spike?" Demon asked. The PMB were much before Demon's time and for the first time in a while Demon was asking an honest to the stars non-rhetorical question.

Spike looked down and took his shades off.

"Love."

**May 16 ( 2:13pm )**

**Toad Town - Star Road**

Toadsky was looking at the pendant that Merlon had given him. It was a bronze star shaped medallion and in the middle laid a small red ruby. He slowly put the pendant on around his neck and felt a sudden surge of power.

Vito felt the power aura around Toadsky increase as well. Vito turned around to see the little Toad magician glowing. He quickly turned around and rushed back to Toadsky.

"Hey! Toadsky are you alright." Vito got ready to place a hand on Toadsky, but as soon as he got close a current of electricity flowed through the prince causing him to jump back and tremble.

Toadsky didn't seem to notice. He began to walk toward Vito. The small magician took out his wand and pointed it at Vito. Don noticed the action and began to charge toward Toadsky. As Toadsky prepared to pull his wand up to begin a spell, Don charged into him with his shoulder knocking the magician some feet back.

"My mind is unlocked…" Toadsky said as he ran toward the two royals.

"Damnit! I think that pendant did it!" Vito said. Don adopted a fighting stance and performed a swift jab to Toadsky when he got into range. The Toad stopped for a second and staggered back a little. Don immediately took the pendant from Toadsky and watched as the little magician turned completely back to normal.

"Owww…why does my face hurt?" Toadsky asked. He pointed the wand to his face where Don had slugged him and lightly touched the painful area.

"_**Softboiled…**_" He said quietly and immediately his face was healed. Vito smiled.

"Are you alright?" Toadsky nodded his head. Don began to head toward the road again. Vito looked up at the sky and thought for a second before talking to Toadsky again.

"I don't think I've ever seen you do that spell before."

"What spell?" Toadsky asked curiously.

"The one you just did. I think you said something like 'Softboiled'," Vito said. Toadsky looked at his prince incredously.

"I think that may be because there's no such magic in this world. I just use the Recovery series of spells. Maybe you misheard me?" Toadsky asked. Vito was sure of what he heard, but Toadsky was far more skilled in magic than he was so if Toadsky said a spell of a certain name didn't exist then he could bet coins to mushrooms he was right.

"Hey where'd my pendant go?" the magician asked. Vito turned around and replied, "When you put it on you went crazy and attacked me,"

"Really? I wonder why Merlon would give me a pendant that would do that? At any rate I need the pendant back,' Toadsky said flatly. Don shook his head no.

"You guys! Merlon said I won't be able to use my stronger spells without that!" Toadsky pleaded. Don glared at Toadsky who in turned glared back.

"C'mon Don, we can give him back his pendant. If he goes nuts again we'll just beat him into submission!" Vito said cheerfully. Toadsky didn't like the sound of being beat into submission but he needed the pendant.

"Deal," Toadsky said. Don looked at the pendant. He tossed it behind him and Toadsky using a Catcher Spell, ensnared it and brought back to himself.

"I won't put it on right now. But I have to figure out why it's doing this to me, so eventually I will." Toadsky warned. Vito shrugged his shoulders.

"Go nuts and me and Don will beat you up!" Vito said.

"Yeah, and I won't hold back either," Don said.

---

Being so far behind the pack, King Luigi had missed the entire ordeal. He was so focused on Merlon's words that he likely would have missed it anyway. He wasn't worried about dying. After all the worrying he'd gone through during his adventures it was a wonder he was alive now. He was more concerned about the fact that according to Merlon he was to die a death that he wouldn't even have wished on Demon. What could be so terrifying that he wouldn't wish it on Demon? Luigi began to think of every single possible scenario that could happen, it was hard because he and Demon didn't have a lot that paralleled between each other so he couldn't figure what would hurt Demon that would hurt him as well.

"Well it's best I not worry about it," Luigi said, "If I keep thinking about it then when the time comes for me to fight my hardest I won't because I'll be paralyzed with fear."

**May 16 ( 3:22pm )  
Star Sanctuary**

"Jesus it's bright…" Vito said. True enough. In fact a little too true. The pure white sanctuary combined with the light of the seven stars blinded the traveler's eyes.

"**WHO GOES THERE?!**" a voice boomed.

"Geno, calm down it's just us…" Luigi said flatly.

"**I KNOW NO LUIGI!!!**" Geno screamed.

"I'm Mario's younger slash twin brother," Luigi said. Vito quietly whispered to Don, "I've always wondered how that worked with Uncle Mario and Dad." Don shrugged his shoulders and explained, "I guess it just varies depending who we talk to."

"Geno, we really don't have time for this. Show yourself!" Luigi boomed.

"Fine…"

A small Pinocchio looking doll with a blue cloak and hat appeared. He was shorter than Toadsky. The two princes looked at each other and then looked at Geno.

"Bwahahaaha!" The two laughed as the clutched their stomachs.

"_**Geno Flash!**_" Geno screamed. The two royals were engulfed in a white light and turned into scarecrows.

"Toadsky! Heal them so we can proceed…" Luigi said.

"_**Refresh!**_" Toadsky said and the two fell down and turned back to normal.

"Geno, we need to talk. It's about the Seven Stars…"

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XIII: The Seven Star Curse**

As always please review.


	13. The Seven Star Curse

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Those of you who are reading this I humbly thank you. I will continue to do my best. I will also begin a Pokemon fanfic soon but for right now let's get back to Next-Gen Bros.

_Demon overlooks his plans and sees no reason why it should fail. However the thought that the Stars could rebel against a Koopa occurs to him. Lakilester is the only one among his army that was on Mario's side. Perhaps the Laiktu's defection will prove to be very useful for the new Koopa king. Meanwhile, the Marios and Toadsky travel to Star Road. En route, Toadsky tries his new pendant only to go berserk and attack Vito! With a swift jab, Toadsky snaps to but Vito notices that Toadsky's is using a spell that he's never done before. _

_With our heroes now at Star Road, what will the Guardian of the Stars, Geno say to them?_

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XIII**

**The Seven Star Curse  
**

**May 16 [ 3:30pm **

**Star Sanctuary**

Geno walked over to Don and Vito and glared at them. Luigi, already sensing this wasn't going to end well without an intervention pulled the Star Guardian aside.

"Geno. We need to call on the power of the seven stars. Or at the very least prevent Demon from getting his hand on them." Luigi pleaded. Geno looked at Luigi with emotionless eyes.

"It can't be done." He said without a second's hesitation. Don rushed to the small doll, picked him up by medal attaching the two pieces of his cloak together and lifted him into the air.

"Listen here! We have a problem. My father was killed by Bowser and now his ruthless grandson is coming to finish the job! I don't know why you don't want to help us but my father helped you out of a bind when Smithy came!" Don roared. At the sound of the name "Smithy" Geno's eyes widened. He'd almost forgotten how much trouble he'd been with the elders from allowing Smithy and Exor to capture the Stars. Although he never showed his emotions, whenever things got tough, he would silently think to himself that he'd messed up beyond penance. But Mario never gave up. Even when all the odds were against him, Mario didn't quit. Now he looked into the eyes of this boy. They had the same intensity his father had.

"Let go of me!" Geno said turning Don into a Mushroom. Toadsky quickly rushed to heal Don but Geno blinked and Don was human again.

"I never said that I didn't want to help you. I said that it couldn't be done…" Geno said wistfully. Luigi walked to him.

"What are you talking about? You're the guardian of the stars…"

"Yeah…But I can't even call upon the stars now. You see, back after the Paper Mario battle, the stars were completely drained of their energy. Although the wishes of the Mushroom Kingdom gave them enough of a boost to aid Mario to a victory over the Koopa King, the Star Spirits were drained not just of energy but of emotion. Although they had experienced evil, the dark energy that was in Bowser was stronger than anything the Stars had experienced. They had never come in contact with evil of that magnitude before. They were tainted. So I, the Guardian of the Stars…against the wishes of the Council, placed the Stars in a state of suspended animation…"

Don charged at Geno again before being restrained by Vito and Luigi.

"You _**what?!**_" Don asked furiously. Luigi was about as angry as Don was but much more restrained about it.

"Why did you do that? Put the stars in suspended animation I mean." Luigi asked.

"It's actually very simple…" Geno said, "Like I said when Bowser used the Star Road to amplify his power it was an one way transfer like we thought. While the Stars were sending power into Bowser, the stars were being fueled by Bowser. His anger, hatred, rage and jealously of Mario flowed through the Stars. The Council could detect the traces of evil and that's how Mario was able to find all seven stars. But after his journey was over, we started to notice that randomly, against their will, the Stars would act maliciously. People's wishes would be granted in dark and morbid ways. A person praying for a heart transplant would receive the heart of one of their parents who'd been brutally murdered. Those who asked to be helped out of poverty would be blackmailed by gangs and then killed…"

"No…the Stars would never…" Toadsky said. Geno lowered his head ruefully.

"That's what the Council thought. In addition to me there were seven Star Guardians in charge of monitoring the activity of each star. When I told them about the darkness of the Stars they were quick to defend the Stars. I told them of the dark wishes. They ignored me. In a 7-0 decision that voted against my original decision to have the Stars…destroyed."

"D-Destroyed?" Luigi said increduosly.

"The Stars are supposed to be the Guardians of our world. If they're rampaging destroying it…Well, at any rate. I accepted the Council's decision to not destroy the Stars. But I felt that the Stars couldn't be trusted so I placed them in a state of suspended animation…with the help of King Koopa…"

"Bowser?!" Don roared. Toadsky had stepped forward too.

"How could you?" Toadsky asked.

"Freezing the stars wasn't enough. I asked Bowser to help me control them while simultaneously preventing anyone from accessing them. He accepted provided he'd be given one last wish before I did what I did. "

"What was his wish?" Luigi asked.

"A powerful heir," Geno said.

"Looks like he got it in Demon…" spat Don. Geno looked past the Mushroom Kingdom king.

"I don't think so. Demon doesn't have the power of the Stars of him…" Geno said.

"But that's why we came! We think he is coming to try and jack the power." Luigi said.

"But he can't! That's what I've been trying to tell you. You see, Bowser and I…cursed the Stars." Geno said finally. Everyone took a step back and stared at Geno in disbelief.

"You cursed the stars?" Vito asked.

"It was a simple alchemy exchange. We made each star have its own power and then made a curse to go with it to whoever unleashed it."

"So each star was its own ability and curse?" Vito asked rhetorically. "Which one grants invisibility?"

Geno stared down Vito. "Why do you want to know? I've told you that Demon can't get the Stars.

"B-but…my dream…I know it!" Vito said and he charged at Geno. He pulled back and took a full swing at the Guardian. Geno staggered back but held his ground.

"Eldstar. He is the one. But his invisibility comes with the curse of ignorance. The user would likely be too dumb to remember what they did three seconds ago, much less attack you."

"Then he must have had more than just the one Star's power." Luigi concluded. "Continue. Tell us all the stars."

"**Mamar**, the spirit of healing. She grants the ability to restore someone from essentially any wound. Her curse is obsession and monomania. The person will be focused on one thing even if it drive them to their death. **Skolar**,the being of intellect. He makes the user extremely intelligent at the cost of rashness. The person would need to have complete focus to make even a single step. **Muskular**, the spirit of power. Muskular infuses the person with godlike power. The drawback is the person is slothful and arrogant. They will have so much power they will assume themselves to be invincible and never use it. **Misstar,** the spirit of love. Her power grants the user the ability to control anyone. Her weakness is her vanity. She must always be the best looking, the best such or something or the power will dissapatate. **Klevar, **the spirit of cunning. The person under Klevar would essentially be able to foresee anything. And such is his weakness. He will constantly show the person visions of the darkest futures pertaining the holder. And finally **Kalmar**, the spirit of peace. He grants the user the ability to freeze time to analyze the situation. But...whoever controls Kalmar will be weak. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally. Always second guessing. Never sure of oneself."

"Those aren't really bad…" Don said.

"It doesn't end there. Whoever, unleashes even one of the Star Spirits will be marked. When the other six are released from their prision the Seven Horsemen will come for them." Geno said.

"The Seven Horsemen?"

"Each council man has a hidden power that I placed inside them. This power could and will only be activated when the Stars in a state of dire distress. It's essentially the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Just three more of them." Geno said.

"Who would they be?" Don asked.

"Ignorance. Hatred. Emptiness. Weakness. Fear. Sloth. Wandering. All created from the weakness of the Stars. But if that doesn't work…then…there is one final effort…" Geno said.

"What could be worse?" Toadsky asked.

"The stars will detonate themselves destroying everything. The world will be erased…" Geno said.

"Then we have to prevent Demon! What can we do?" Don yelled.

"Seek out the eighth star spirit. He and he alone is the one who can prevent the destruction of this world as soon as the chain of events are set into motion. He, however will need a body to use as a host." Geno said.

"He can have mine." Don said.

"No. You are too calculating. The stars can easily use you for darkness." Geno said.

"Then I'll try." Vito said.

"Sorry but no. You love too strongly. The stars will use what you love for darkness." Geno said.

"Then me?" Luigi asked.

"Not you either. This entire mission you lead right now is the reason. You are not after Demon for his invasion. You want revenge. I needn't tell you how that can be used for evil do I?"

"No…me?" Toadsky quietly asked.

"Merlon gave you the pendant yes? That has opened a door to a well of new magic. But in addition to that, you know have what it takes to play host to the eighth star spirit."

Toadsky looked at the pendant.

"But the last time I used the pendant, I almost killed Vito…" Toadsky said. Geno's eyes widened.

"You've already used it? Of course, you tried to kill Vito. That pendant is filled with Dark Energy. But…from the power of this Star and the purity of your heart, this Darkness will be what we need to save the world from the Light." Geno said.

"So…where is this Eighth Star Spirit? And who is he?" Luigi finally asked.

"As per the deal with the Stars and Bowser he is currently following Bowser's heir, protecting him. Keeping him strong." Geno said.

"Oh damnit! He's with Demon!" Don said.

"The star spirit will reveal himself only to Toadsky. When you see him call him by his name.

…Twink."

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XIV: The Search for the Eighth Star**

As always please review.


	14. Problems of the Royals

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: If the story is starting to get confusing then I'm sorry. I have had the basic idea of the story (what's gonna happen, who will die and when) but as I write little ideas keep popping in my head to make the story be a bit more enjoyable. I will admit there are some things about this story that even I don't know right now… Examples: back in like chapter 3 I had no intention of bringing Geno into the story. Luigi originally wasn't going to be alive this long. Toadsky was originally envisioned as an adult Toad on a Laiktu (Toad + Sky?) And now he's Vito's most trusted vizier. But I do have something I know for sure that are down the road. And I bet you're ready for me to shut up and get to them, huh?

_Geno sadly explains to the party that he cannot help them. He assures them though that the Stars cannot be awaked. It appears that sometime after Bowser lost in Paper Mario, Bowser's darkness fed into the Stars; tainting them. However, their dark reign over the Mushroom Universe was stopped when Bowser, in exchange for a wish for a powerful heir, helped the Guardian of the Stars seal the Star Spirits for eternity. However Geno warns that should the Stars be unleashed upon the world, an apocalypse would descend on the Three Kingdoms of the Mushroom World. The only way to stop this evil is to seek out the Eighth Star Spirit, Twink. The spirit must have a host body and the only one that can do it is Toadsky._

_However, Twink is protecting Bowser's heir. _

_So now our heroes must locate Demon and wrest the Star Spirit from his grasp._

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XIV**

**Problems of the Royals**

**May 16 [ 4:17pm **

**Toad Town Outskirts**

"Damn it. Geno really screwed up." Don muttered. The Star Sanctuary was far behind the traveling royals but the message Geno had left them was still echoing in their skulls.

"So now we're not just stopping Demon, but a potential apocalypse?" Vito asked. Toadsky was dragging behind looking at his pendant he got from Merlon.

"Filled with Dark Energy? How can I use something like this to defeat Demon?" Toadsky sighed. Luigi's thoughts weren't much more positive. Now the thought of apocalypse and a death that one would not wish on Demon was on his mind.

"Geno…" Don angrily said as he turned back facing Star Sanctuary. "You allied with Demon and I will come back and make you pay for it." Don swore. Vito looked at Don as if he was crazy.

"You're going to challenge the Guardian of the Stars?"

"He helped Demon become powerful. Therefore he is the enemy of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Let's not do anything stupid," Luigi said, "The first thing we need to do is to locate Demon so we can get Twink from him."

"Man…I just thought about it." Don said. "If Demon's already got Twink then he could very well be on his way to Star Sanctuary right now. He could activate the Stars right now!"

The entire party stopped and thought in fear about Don had just said. True. If Demon had Twink then he could've assailed Star Sanctuary already. Why hadn't he?

**May 16 [ 6:10pm **

**Koopa Castle (still being petitioned to be renamed Demon Castle )**

The king of Koopas was sitting on a throne like chair at the head of a garish table. Seated on either end of the long table there were many of Bowser's old allies , and a few members of Smithy's gang as well.

Demon put on a pair of reading glasses and looked down at a small piece of paper.

"Okay, so by a vote of ten to two with eight abstaining we will rename Koopa Castle, Demon Castle. This piece of legislation is passed," Demon said and hit the table with a small Hammer bros. hammer.

**May 16 [ 6:12pm **

**Demon Castle War Room**

Demon put the reading glasses aside and began to speak.

"My fellow evil doers. My most trusted general, Spike, and I have formulated a plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom once and for all. However, the plan that we came up with cannot be executed as originally planned…" Demon said. There was some muttering amongst the underlings. They were silence with a growl from the King.

"It's a tactic I didn't wish to employ but I feel it will be necessary. I will have my three highest generals protecting Demon Castle and the capital area. The next seven generals will be in charge of leading attacks on the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarsaland."

One general stood up. He was a shy guy, clad in a navy blue uniform and matching pants but with a peculiar white beret.

"My lord. What will you do?"

"For a little bit I will be at Koopa Castle with General Spike planning our next move. It would appear that the Marios have discovered my intentions of the Seven Stars." Demon said.

"The king has seen and heard everything discussed by the Marios and the Guardian, Geno." Spike said. The Koopaland Army muttered amongst themselves.

"Yes. It appears that as soon as one of the Stars is activated, it will set a chain of events that will lead to an Armageddon. Needless to say, actions must be taken so that this doesn't happen. There is no sense in taking over a world if it will be destroyed." Demon said.

"The Seven Generals that will go about attacking the Mushroom Kingdom will be allowed to use any means they want. However, the one named Toadsky is not to be harmed. The Koopa King would prefer if King Don and Prince Vito could be brought to him alive but their fate is unimportant at this time." Spike announced.

"Right then! Who's these seven generals eh? Time's a wastin'." Old pirate roared.

"They know who they are and will be divvying up the lot of you in a little bit." Demon said.

"Assuming there are no other questions I want my three generals to come with me. Spike! Hectate! Jr. Troopa! To my chambers. The rest of you will be assigned to your generals now." Demon said and with that he left the War Room and entered a small room followed by his three Generals.

---

The three generals stood at attention until Demon sat down. Spike flew in front of the other two generals as they kneeled.

"Hectate. The grandson of the late Kamek. It is you I have to thank for establishing the link with the Mario Bro."

Hectate stood up. He was about the same height as Toadsky. He wore a black robe with a gold headband. In place of a wand he had a grand staff on his back that was nearly twice his size.

"My lord. It was a simple task. My magic is at your service," The magician bowed and kneeled once more.

"Jr. Troopa. A dogged rival of Mario. Why you ally yourself with me is curious. However, you're steel determination is something I must have in my army."

Jr. Troopa stood up. Anyone who'd met him in Paper Mario would be a fool to mess with him now. He was about as tall as Demon (who in turn was about a foot shorter than Bowser), completely ripped and covered in armor. However, he hadn't completely broken out of his shell; there was still an egg casing around his head.

"I fight to test my might against Mario and anyone else that sprang from his loins," Jr. Troopa said and kneeled again.

"…That's was well put…Disturbing…but well put." Spike said.

"Now the reason I've called you is that something the Star Spirit Guardian said has concerned me." Demon began. "He said I didn't have the power of the Stars about me."

"Well, isn't that natural?" Jr. Troopa stated, "We haven't attacked anything yet so wouldn't make sense that you don't have any Star Power yet?"

"Yes. That would make sense. However, the Guardian said my grandfather made a deal with the Guardian that he could grant one wish before the Stars were forever sealed. That wish was for a powerful heir."

"You are the king of Koopaland. I'm still not seeing the problem…" Jr. Troopa said.

"If I was the heir Bowser was talking about, then that Star Spirit, Twink I believe it was called, would be protecting me. But it isn't."

"So that means…" Hectate said.

"Exactly…I'm not the rightful heir of Koopaland."

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XV: Bowser's Heir : The Threat To Two Nations**

As always please review.


	15. Season 2 Preview

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Okay…To everyone who was expecting a chapter…sorry. I'm taking the week off to 1) get some chapters written so I don't have to write chapters as I go. This will allow me to advance the plot a little more in my head because the direction of the journey changes with basically every chapter. (The ultimate destination is still the same though.) So, I'm calling Chapter XIV the end of Season 1 and Season 2 will start next Sunday.

Oh and one more thing I post about midnight where I live (Central United States time) so…if that helps any…sweet.

But I won't be a jerk. I'll at least give you a preview of what's coming next.

_Bowser invaded the Mushroom Kingdom._

_He finally succeded in killing Mario. But in turn he was silenced by his own grandson, Demon. (well it was technically a heart attack but this sounds more dramatic)_

_Demon waged war on the Mushroom Kingdom. His first campaign was intended to make the world think him dead, but with that plan failed, he's set his sights on the Seven Stars._

_However, Geno and Bowser cursed the Seven Stars and sealed their powers. But Bowser first made the wish that he'd have a powerful heir. To this end the Star's blessed the Heir of Bowser to be protected by the previously unknown Eighth Star Spirit._

_But Demon's has made the terrible realization…he is not the one._

_He now must set out on a campaign to find the true heir to Bowser and kill him and take the power of the Star himself._

_But what about our heroes? They still think Demon is the heir to the Koopa King!_

_And on top of ALL that, Demon has given the order for his Seven Generals to attack the Mushroom Kingdom in whatever fashion they proudly presents…_

**Next-Gen Bros.**

**Season II  
Bowser's Heir: The Threat to Two Nations!**

_**Coming To Starting Sunday July 28, 2007**_

**P.S. I want to take this time to thank everyone who's been reading!**


	16. Defenders of Darkness: Demon's Generals

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Welcome Back to Next Gen Bros! This season will have plenty more action, be a lot longer and…something else! But enough about what it will be, time to make it what it is.

_Demon is in dire straits…_

_After listening on the Royals conversation with the Star Spirits, Demon discovers that Bowser's heir is protected by the Eighth Star Spirit, Twink. But this can't be! Demon has no such blessing. Realizing this Demon temporarily surrenders his control over the Mushroom Kingdom invasion to his Seven Generals while he seeks out the true heir of Bowser._

_But meanwhile the Mario Royals still think that Demon is Bowser's true heir and to this end they are preparing to launch an offensive into Koopaland to wrest Twink from the Koopa King(?)._

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XV**

**Defenders of Darkness: The Generals of Lord Demon**

Demon Castle's war room was a dimly lit arena. Its walls were decked with armor and weapons of various sizes. Today the war room had played host to a meeting to determine the course of action regarding the invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom.

"We've waited long enough!" an angry Koopa finally declared, "What are we going to do?" Another Koopa nearby shook his head and grunted in agreement. A roar of anxiety arose from the bored crew of villains. From the mob of villains rose a single Koopa. The Koopa crawled on top of the table in the centre of the war room and thrust two arms victoriously in the air.

"Enough! I'm one of the generals!" the bold Koopa announced and all attention turned to him. A voice from the crowd rose and said with disdain, "Shut your mouth Sammy! Last week you were just a loser janitor. You're nothing but a grunt!"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Sammy screamed as he charged into the crowd. He menacingly looked around and glared at a Buzzy Beetle.

"You think your hot stuff, huh?" Sammy yelled as he began to unleash hell. Around the brawl a riot broke out. It wasn't long before the entire Koopa army had engulfed the war room in combat.

Spared from the battle were two people. One, a male about sixteen, had bold green hair and was wearing a cream robe with crimson trim. The other was a girl, essentially a carbon copy of the boy except for a few things. She wore her hair in a long ponytail; his hair was kept short and slicked back. Her robe was crimson with cream trim.

"We have to command these idiots?" the boy sighed. The girl looked over at the brawl. A bold Goomba had just been laid out via a chair over the head. She looked back at the boy and smiled enthusiastically, "Yep!"

"Then I suppose you should stop the fighting…" the boy said. The girl smiled and closed her eyes. Suddenly, everyone that had been fighting stopped and stared around stupidly.

"Now that I have your attention," she said and turned to the boy who nodded. He thrust his hand in the air and slowly floated into the air with the girl. The two levitated toward the table and stood on top of it.

"I would like to introduce myself," the boy began, "My name is Val." He bowed deeply. The girl bowed to the crowd and looked up with a smile, "and I am Tina."

A Koopa in the background shouted, "Why the hell should we care?"

Tina stood straight up and winked as she placed a hand on her hip, "Silly boy, you should care because we are two of Lord Demon's Generals." The Koopa that had made the outburst began to laugh. The smile slowly faded from her mouth.

"I missed the joke."

"I'm sorry," The Koopa said holding his stomach while laughing heartily. A few soldiers around the bold Koopa began to laugh nervously. He stepped forward and shook his head.

"I just can't believe someone as young and pathetic as you two are Generals. I could take both of you on myself," the armored Koopa said. By now the entire section around him was laughing. Neither Val nor Tina seemed bothered by this comment. The Koopa stepped forward again.

"Fine." Val said quietly. The entire room was silenced. The armored Koopa brought a cupped hand to where his ears were supposed to be.

"Speak up, pipsqueak."

"I said I accept your challenge. If you can beat us, then you will become a General. Come on up." Val said without emotion. The armored Koopa began to chuckle.

"Come on. I don't wanna kill Demon's little generals." He said and roared in laughter.

"Pansy."

"WHAT?" The koopa roared. He immediately bounded to the top of the table and adopted a fighting stance.

"Alright punk, I'm game. But just remember. I don't go easy on babies. I fight to win," the Koopa said.

Val adopted a fighting stance while Tina simply sat down.

"Fine, I'll fight to win as well." Val said.

"Okay, here I COME!" the Koopa roared as he charged at the green haired teen. A mere millisecond before the right hook the Koopa threw would have connected with the boy, the Koopa froze. Everyone in the crowd looked in awe. Val casually turned to Tina.

"Do you wanna have some fun with him first?" he asked.

"How sweet of you to ask!" she said jumping to her feet. She closed her eyes and, in a very dramatic fashion exclaimed, "BONZAI!" Immediate the muscular armor-clad Koopa began to cluck wildly like a chicken. The crowd began to laugh insanely at the spectacle. Tina seemed to be enjoying herself as she pet the mocked warrior.

"Okay, you can go now. I'm bored with him." The girl sighed. Val smiled and glared at the Koopa, who immediately stopped his chicken antics. Val took his right arm and stretched it across his body. The koopa slowly swayed to his right (A/N: but Val's left). Then Val swept his arm outward to the right and simulataneously the Koopa flew from off the table and into a cannon pointing out of a window.

"You missed." Tina said with disappointment.

"It's a shame, huh. Too bad mother isn't here. She loved messing with Koopas." Val said.

"She also liked to get work done!" a stern voice rang out.

"Ah, Battalion Guy. I was so busy having fun with the Koopa I hadn't noticed you." Val said. With a flick of the wrist Val picked up a Shy Guy clad in a navy blue uniform and placed him on the table top.

"Everyone this Battalion Guy," Tina announced, "Grandson of General Guy and current leader of all Shy Guys and Snifits. He is one of the Seven Generals."

"Before anyone goes challenging him," Val started, "Look at how many Shy Guys are in our army." Any would be challenger immediately swallowed their pride.

"I can get on the table myself just fine…" an old pirate voice said. An old man with a shaggy beard slowly made his way to the top of the table with the help of a ornate walking cane.

"Booster's my name…My ability's animation. I can make toys that come to life." The old man said with a marked tone of insanity.

"Thank you Gepetto!" Val announced with a smile. Booster promptly hit him over the head with his cane.

"Now it is my turn." A mystic voice said. Suddenly the entire war room became deathly cold as a silver, winters wind whipped around the tabletop until a small localized snowstorm had been created. Suddenly there was a flash of light and then standing next to Val was a sparkling coat. Just about the coat was a pair of gold eyes and slightly hovering about that was a ice blue crown.

"I am the Crystal King. Deposed ruler of Shiver City and the northern Mushroom Lands. I am a cyrokinetic." He said wistfully.

"AND! HERE! COMES…" A loud voice boomed. Suddenly theme music, oddly reminiscent of the Steel Samurai, filled the room. All the lights in the war room dimmed.

"Oh, geez does he have to do this every time he enters?" Tina sighed.

"It's his trademark…" Val groaned.

A gold clad warrior appeared with a large trident in his hand. "HIYAH! AXEM GOLD! Captain of the NEW AXEM RANGERS!"

Without warning, seven more warriors of various colors appeared with the Gold warrior.

"AXEM SILVER!" screamed a silver clad warrior, the fattest of the seven.

"AXEM CRYSTAL!" said a tall warrior in a mirror armor said.

"AXEM RUBY!" cooed a seductive red clad woman sighed.

"AXEM SAPPHIRE!" a rowdy little boy in dark blue cried.

"AXEM EMERALD!" a young girl in a emerald skirt giggled.

"AXEM DIAMOND!" a dragon like warrior with blue wings screamed.

"AXEM PEARL!" another dragon, except with pink wings roared.

"Damnit, Axem Gold!" Val yelled, "I just wanted the Generals up here. Not their entire crew!"

"Yeah! Those intros wasted eighty-four words that could have been used for something else!" Tina screeched. Ignoring the fourth wall break, Axem Gold bowed his head and apologized.

"So…that's like…only six," a koopa said after doing the math.

"Yea, the seventh general has already been assigned to his job, so he can't be here right now," the Crystal King said.

"At any rate…" Val said with his eyes closed. "We are the SEVEN GENERALS OF LORD DEMON!" Everyone on the table struck a dramatic pose as fireworks went off in the background.

"But…like there's only six…" the Koopa said, causing everyone on the table to fall down in an overly anime style.

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XVI: **

As always please review.


	17. The Rationale of Plunging Into Darkness

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky, Val, Tina, Hectate, The New Axem Rangers and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Man…I totally forgot to give Chapter XVI a name on the "until next time…". Chalk that up to oops. BTW if you have any questions, review and ask them and I will answer them in the story here in the author's notes. However, I will not give outright spoilers. If answering your question will cause spoilers I won't answer. It's nothing against you, but it's to preserve the story. (Plus stuff changes a lot around here.)

_Last time on __**NEXT GEN BROS**__…_

_Deep in the dark recesses of Demon Castle, a vicious riot broke out. The melee was stopped by none other than Val and Tina, two of Demon's generals. The other generals showcased themselves in an amazing display. However, only six of the Generals have been shown. Where is the seventh? And what vicious plans are they up to?_

_The Dark Lord begins his search for the true heir of Bowser, while our Heroes (who've been gone for quite some time now) seek out to _

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XVI**

**The Rationale of Plunging Into Darkness**

Toad Town at night was a beautiful sight. All the spots of the mushroom-capped houses were glowing brilliantly, the same went for the spots on the Toad's themselves. Toadsky's, however, was an exception. The small mushroom wizard had his head bowed low as the rest of his traveling companions did.

_"I never said that I didn't want to help you. I said that it couldn't be done…"_ Geno had said. The Guardian of the Stars, had rejected the family of the great Mario. The one who'd saved the Mushroom Kingdom time and time again. In this, his family's most dire hour, Geno had abandoned them.

"That bastard…" Don muttered through gritted teeth. The other royals were too weighted down to care. Vito's dream had been true. Demon is destined to get the seven stars and destroy the Mushroom Kingdom.

Toadsky carried around his neck, the most beautiful pendant he'd ever seen. Yet it was completely imbued with dark energy. Geno warned him using it before it'd been purified by Twink would be disastrous.

Luigi knew he was going to have to be the one to cheer up the mood. His mind had been meditating on his ultimate fate. He'd tried to place it on the backburner of his mind but he idea of a fate worse than Demon…

"Hey!" Luigi suddenly screamed as they got ready to enter the Toad Town Square, "Geno may not have given us a lot of help or hope but remember through his entire spiel. He not once said that it was impossible!"

Toadsky looked up at the night sky. Geno was a pretty big downer, but Luigi was right. He never said the task was impossible.

"Sure it'll be a little tough!" Toadsky said.

Vito eyes brightened, "A bit more than a little, we've got to prevent an apocalypse."

"But we'll do it somehow!" Luigi said.

Don wasn't as easy to cheer up. Vito walked over to him and put his hand on his cousin's shoulder.

"Listen, it won't be easy. I'd be a damn fool to say it would be. But we're the sons of Kings Mario and Luigi. Together they always triumphed. Why the hell shouldn't we?" Vito asked.

"The stakes have never been so high." Don said.

"That just makes the challenge more fun." Vito said with a smile.

"What if we fail?" Don asked.

"Then that's it. But I wouldn't worry about failing. The stars may have betrayed us but I know that Uncle Mario is watching us. And I just know that somehow we'll make it."

"You're always full of hope." Don said, a smile slowly appearing on his face.

"I have to. Without hope we might as well surrender to the fiend Demon right now!"

"Fine, we'll stop at my castle and hold a council with our army. Luigi, I want Vito and Toadsky by side on this one. You go back to Sarsaland."

Luigi nodded his head, "What will to talk about at the council?"

NGB

"We're invading Koopaland?!" a Toad screamed. A uproar immediately broke out in the castle.

"We don't have the resources, we're still hurting from aiding Sarsaland at Chai!"

"SHUT UP!" a voice boomed. Vito and Toadsky slowly looked at Don. Don shook his head and glanced over at the person who'd made the exclaimation.

"Listen here! My husband fought for you all the time when the odds were against him and he was unprepared. All he needed was a moment's notice and he was up and gone! And now, you want to punk out because we're a little undermanned? I can't believe you're the finest the Mushroom Kingdom has to offer." The queen roared. She slowly noticed that she had punched the small table in front of her when she screamed, causing it to shatter.

"My lady…" a General whispered. He stood as tall as he could and saluted, "My men will be ready at the soonest notice!"

"As will mine!"

"And mine!"

"Then it's settled!" Don triumphantly screamed, "We begin our invasion of Koopaland tomorrow at the crack of dawn! We'll strike at the Forever Forest border!"

"_**SIR! YES SIR!**_"

Amid the cheer Queen Peach was smiling broadly and chuckling to herself.

"Mom, are you alright?" the young king asked.

"Well, it's funny that you picked that border is all."

"Why?" Vito asked

NGB

"Say what?!" Luigi incredulously. He was pacing around his bedroom while putting his various pieces of armor back on their pegs and switching into his pajamas. On the bed sat Queen Daisy. She was wearing her traditional gold dress with the darker gold trim. Her hair was still a chestnut brown color, the result of dyeing. She was fiddling with her elegant white gloves and looking down. She hadn't expected her husband to show such emotion.

"You and Peach had planned to go to the Forever Forest border and attack?

"Yeah, we weren't going to sit back and let you guys have all the fun."

"Honey, this isn't a game. If Demon gets those seven stars it apocalypse!" Luigi said overly animated.

"I know, and that's why Peach and I are going. We have to help prevent the apocalypse. If you guys fail we die too! So we thought that we should fight and help in anyway we can."

Luigi sat on the bed next to his wife.

"You're right. But, what if I lose you? Then what?" Luigi asked.

"I won't die. I'll make you that promise." Daisy said.

"I'm against this. One hundred percent." Luigi said firmly.

"Well, I'm not sitting back and letting Armageddon happen!" Daisy said.

"Fine…" Luigi reluctantly said, "but I don't want you to go and be a hero. Promise me that if things are too dangerous, you'll turn back."

"You know even if I promise I won't." Daisy said.

"Yeah." Luigi said with his head bowed. Daisy held her husband's hand.

"Look me in the eyes. We've been through so much. This isn't the time for us to worry. Everything will be fine." She said convincingly. There was something in her tone, something in it, Luigi could trust.

"Fine. Please, don't die. There's no point of me living without you." Luigi quietly said as he kissed Daisy.

NGB

Back at Mushroom Castle, Toadsky looked at Prince Vito and King Don, the two were more than ready to take on the fiends of Koopaland. He was still nervous. Could he even use magic with the pendant on? And if he saw Demon how would he take Twink from him?

Don was almost too excited to go to sleep. He was ready to make Demon pay for his crimes. "One campaign…straight to the castle. I'll have my revenge." Don thought as he continued to pump up the soldiers in the Castle Room.

Vito motioned to Toadsky and with a whisper asked the young magician to use an AreaSteal to go back to Sarsaland Castle. The Toad nodded and silently prayed nothing would go wrong. With a small mumble of "_**Teleport**_". The two found themselves inside Vito's chamber. Toadsky silently thanked the stars and thought to himself that he might still be able to use a bit of magic without explosive collateral damage.

Meanwhile, in the darkness of Koopaland…A Koopa King lurks with his three most trusted Generals. He marches on with the determination to find this threat to his throne and execute it.

**Chapter XVI: The Rational of Plunging Into Darkness**

**END**

**[Preview**

_Demon's hunt for the threat to his throne is the subject of our next chapter. He decides that to rampage through Koopaland first to find answers to his questions such as: Who is this heir?_

_The Seven (er…Six) Generals decide who's going to attack first and begin to move out to Forever Forest to start the Mushroom Kingdom invasion, but what's this? Their surprise attack is foiled. Who will survive the ensuing battle?_

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XVII: Clash In The Forever Forest!**

As always please review.


	18. Clash in The Forever Forest!

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky, Val, Tina, Hectate, The New Axem Rangers and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: So it's been basically forever and a day since I updated huh? I've been working on my other fics. I have one called **Pokemon: Cross Fusion! **and another one in Phoenix Wright fics called **Turnabout Cul-de-Sac.** I was kind of tired of working on NGB non-stop. So I put it down for a bit so I wouldn't get completely bored with it.

I'll try to put up at least one chapter of each fan fic a week. Check the other fics out. You might be surprised. But now back to the fanfic that started it all!

_Last time on __**NEXT GEN BROS**__…_

_Physically and emotionally drained from their talk with the Guardian of the Stars, the Mario Royals return to Toad Town. However, Don is determined that the enemies of his father are brought to justice and he promptly declares an invasion on Koopaland the following day at daylight's first light._

_In a shocking twist of fate, the Queens of the Two Nations were already planning to attack the Forever Forest Border the next day._

_However, in the Dark Nation of Koopaland, the Seven Generals were also planning to attack the Mushroom Kingdom via the Forever Forest._

_What's going to happen now that two surprise attacks collide?_

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XVII**

**Clash In the Forever Forest**

The night sky that hung over the nations was dark and ominious. The winds dared not make a sound and the moon glowed with the silent intensity that can only foretell the calm before the storm. The trees of the Forever Forest encircled the meancing Boo Manor. Inside the hallowed mansion a small turquoise Boo rested near a piano and stared into a mirror. Suddenly behind her a dust brown Boo with a monocle appeared behind her.

"Lady Bow, why do you bother looking into the mirror?" he asked.

"I must always look my best so I have to get my bow looking just right." Bow replied keeping her eyes fixed on the mirror.

"But my Lady, we're ghosts. We have no reflection." The butler Boo said. Immediately Bow tripled in size and roared at the butler.

"Don't you know that if you don't acknowledge physics and the laws of reality in fictional works the impossible remains possible?! Now I won't be able to see myself in the mirror until I forget that tidbit!" She returned to her normal size, "Or at least for another episode…"

"Sorry my lady, it's just the Forest seems restless and the townspeople of the neighboring Gusty Gulch are beginning to wonder if they should take refuge in the Boo Bastille where Tubba Blubba used to reside."

Lady Bow, still noticeably flustered about the lack of a reflection in the mirror, gazed out the window.

"I don't like how calm the wind is. It's very ominous. A girl like me could die of fright." Bow said wistfully. Bootler began to say something but swallowed his oncoming words hard when a hardfaced Bow turned and faced him with the warning, "If you say ANYTHING, I'll have you removed from my sight permanently…"

"Shall I leave my Lady's presence?" Bootler asked pitfully hurt.

"Yes, I've had just about enough of you for one night." Bow said harshly and hurried Bootler out of the room. He sadly closed his eyes and phased through the floor.

Bow stared at the mirror, she thought she could see her reflection a tad bit but it faded away quickly. She sighed heavily and gazed out the window again. She knew something bad was coming.

"But what is it?" she quietly whispered to herself as she floated to the attic of the Mansion.

-NGB-

There would be no resting for the King of Koopas tonight. He trudged through a swampy area with his faithful three Generals.

"We disappear for a couple of chapters, and we wind up in a swamp…" Hectate miserably commented. Jr. Troopa nodded his head in agreement while Spike beamed.

"I'm pretty glad I'm a Lakitu, or I'd have to get that gunk between my toes too." He laughed loudly as he glided over the angry trio. Demon reached out a claw and grabbed the cloud to a halt.

"Listen good, Spike, I have to trudge through this gunk as well, so I don't want to hear any gloating or it'll be the devil to pay. Got it?" Demon growled. Spike's shades dropped and he quickly, but coolly, fixed them. Mustering all the cool in his body to prevent trembling, he stammered a weak, "G-got it…" Demon turned to Hectate and frowned, "And I don't want anymore fourth wall breaks from you okay? It's becoming too much of a staple."

"Sorry my liege. It won't happen again." Hectate said as he bowed deeply.

"So, why are we trudging through this godforsaken swamp land?" Jr. Troopa asked. Demon cocked his head over his shoulders.

"We're going to start searching for the potential usurper to the throne. I don't think the Koopa would have left Koopaland, being the son of the Mushroom Kingdom's greatest enemy and all. So the ultimate source of info in Koopaland is Kent C. Koopa's Tavern."

"A tavern?" Jr. Troopa questioned.

"I know, I don't like the idea either but it's a starting point. At any rate we have to keep moving under the shroud of night. If we can find the true heir to Bowser we can dispose of him and move on with our plans."

The dark warriors continued their midnight march as the tavern loomed over the horizon. The three generals began to have faint illusions of a few drinks at the tavern. These were quickly crushed by Koopa King who replied as the got closer to the bar, "The first person to allow alcohol to touch their lips will deal with me and it's been a bit since I've killed anybody so don't count on it being a fast painless thing."

"Can we at least get something to eat?" Jr. Troopa whined.

The Koopa King though it over for a second.

"Something small, but I want us to be in and out. They don't have information we keep moving! That's an order!"

Demon looked up at the night sky and saw a few stars. He saw constellation that almost resembled Bowser and Mario. The two seemed to be laughing and pointing at him.

"_Who is this heir, Grandpa?_" Demon thought, "_and why didn't you tell me about him?_"

-NGB-

"Should we all attack at once?" Axem Gold asked. The Seven (sorry…SIX) generals gathered around a small table. They had run their mouths a bit too much after announcing themselves as Demon's Generals. Well, actually the story was more like…

"We attack the Mushroom Kingdom tomorrow through the Forever Forest!" Axem Gold had said boldly with a finger pointing skyward.

"You really should learn to shut your damn mouth." Booster growled. The other Generals nodded.

"I think you should attack first since you're the idiot who ran his mouth every which direction," Val said. Tina nodded in agreement.

"What me? All by myself?" Axem Gold sweatdropped.

"No, you'll get to have your fellow Axems with you and plenty of forces from Demon's Army." Tina reassured.

Axem Gold stood up as the Steel Samurai theme began to blare into the night.

"Yeah! For Smithy! The Axem Rangers will not be defeated!" Axem Gold triumphantly shouted. The Steel Samurai's theme quickly cut off as Axem Gold sat down a put his hands in his lap.

"Hey wait, what're you guys going to be doing?" he asked.

"Dunno," Booster said, "but that's none of your worry. You focus on hittin' the Mushroom Kingdom hard tomorrow."

The Steel Samurai theme returned full blast. Tina sighed heavily.

"Just don't get yourself killed…" Tina said, "If things get to dicey just think it. Very loudly. Either me or my brother over here will teleport you back to the castle."

"No worries Tina, I've got everything under control!" Axem Gold triumphantly shouted. Tina sighed again.

-NGB-

The first lights of day came at about six forty-nine in the morning. By that time the able bodied warriors of the Mushroom-Sarsaland Army had been awake for over a half hour. They had already eaten a hearty breakfast, showered and were currently in the process of suiting up for the day's battle. After the soldiers had suited up they were to report to the Mushroom War Room for a briefing.

King Don strode in front of the army amid a loud roar of cheers. Behind him to his left were the Queens Peach and Daisy and to his right King Luigi and Prince Vito. Toadsky was in another room talking with the armed magicians.

"My Mushroom People and our allies the Sarsaland Forces, I thank you for lending your strength in today's combat!" Don shouted to where the very back rows could hear. He motioned to Luigi who walked over to a screen projector, a large display of the area surrounding the Forever Forest appeared.

'Today we are marching straight into the enemy territory. We are going to attack the Forever Forest border in hopes of gaining a foothold by reclaiming Boo Mansion. From there we are going to march into the Gusty Gulch and take Boo Castle."

"Aren't those held by the Boos?" Daisy asked quietly.

"The Boos can't do too much in combat, seeing as how they're ghosts so they're kind of neutral, we're taking those two landmarks, more as a way to set up shop in enemy territory." Don replied.

"There is no mercy. Attack and destroy. If they don't fly the banner of our united forces, show them the wrath of the Mario Family!" Don roared as the Mushroom Warriors rushed out of the war room. They mounted their Yoshi and began to ride of into the early morning toward the combat.

-NGB-

Axem Gold's troops were marching out to the Mushroom Border at full strength. Axem Gold and his fellow Axem Rangers were ahead of the pack discussing what they should do for strategy.

"This is really more Battalion Guys forte. We usually carry out missions ourselves as a team." Axem Gold said.

"But we can't let Lord Demon down now!" Axem Sapphire said excitedly as he pulled a Yo-yo out of his pocket and started playing with it.

"No I'm not worried about failing. I'm just wondering, what's our place in this battle?" Gold replied.

"Maybe we should lead a separate assault. Just us and a few of the warriors." Diamond suggested.

"Yeah! That way we'll be able to use our individual powers to their fullest!" Ruby said.

"Sounds good guys. Let's get ready, the Forever Forest is just beyond this ridge!"

-NGB-

The daylight of morning never quite reached the Forever Forest, or rather it was never really daylight at all in the Forever Forest, as soon as one got close to the national border, darkness would overthrow the sunlight for reign of the sky. The only light came from a few glowing Mushrooms growing on the ground and the glaring eyes that appeared to be everywhere.

"It's too dark…" Toadsky said.

"Yeah…but down using any light magic Toadsky, we don't want to give away our position." Vito sternly said. The little Toad nodded his head. Don turned around to the collective army.

"Okay, we're splitting into two divisions: Don, Vito and Toadsky are going to the left. The Queens and Luigi are going to the right. Just go to the path that's closest to you." Don said. The warriors did as they were told, with some minor confusion for those who had lined up in the middle column. The problem was eventually solved through a few quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors and the troupe was completely, and just about evenly, split.

"Just look for things out of place and take that road and we'll meet up at Boo Mansion in no time.

-NGB-

"Man, I hate this place…" Don growled through gritted teeth, "But it's the closest border to the Castle Town…" The warriors marched through the grass as the various wildlife began to glow bright blue. One mushroom not to far ahead was glowing a shimmering Gold color.

"What the hell?" Don said as he quietly ordered his troops to hide in the sides of the road.

"Someone's coming…" Vito whispered.

"I wonder why the Axems went the other way." A koopa said.

"Yeah, what kind of a surprise attack is it if your Generals aren't with you anyway?"

"I agree!" Vito shouted from the bushes. The Koopas stopped their march and readied themselves. Don smacked him in the arm and hissed.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to give away our position?"

Vito thought for a second and then smiled, "Yep," he turned to some of the Mushroom warriors, "go ahead whistle eerily. Just trust me." Vito turned back to the troops.

"It's a shame that you're Generals have left you…" Vito wailed. The apparent captain of the Koopa warriors stood valiantly forward.

"Who's there?!" he weakly stammered.

"I'm the spirit of the Forest. You're Generals have fallen to our traps." The Koopa captain shook violently as he heard these words. During that piece of dialogue a few Mushroom Warriors reached out a pulled a small group of Buzzy Beetles into the bushes. There was a quick yelp and then silence.

"This is what happens when you enter our domain with evil purposes!" Vito wailed. Another group of Koopaland warriors were brought to justice.

The wails of the Mushroom Army echoed off the trees, the ground and everywhere seemingly encircling the Captain.

"W-w-whoever…is there…show yourself."

Vito jumped high into the air and landed in a bow.

"Very well, only since you asked."

Immediately the Mushroom Kingdom warriors jumped out from both sides and swarmed the surprised Koopaland invaders. The Captain shrieked and tried to run off to leave his company to their demise.

"Such cowardice is unacceptable!" Don said as he charged at the captain. He grabbed the Koopa who was trying, to no avail to slink into his shell.

"What madness is this?"

"Madness? This isn't madness." He threw the captain to the ground and held him at sword-point with his raiper.

"This is Mushroom Kingdom." Don said as he ended the Captain's life with a quick thrust.

(A/N: I acknowledge VG Cats did this first. But I just couldn't resist.)

The Koopaland warriors began to get their wits about them and started to fight back, but by that time they'd lost too many in the initial attack. Their retreat path had been cut off and the only exit was the Mushroom Kingdom which had too many Mushroom Warriors to hope to get past. The Koopas laid down their arms and surrendered.

"Sorry, but there's no surviving this battle." Don said as he gave the order to execute the Koopaland warriors.

"C'mon men! Boo Manor can't be to far off!"

**Chapter XVII: Clash In The Forever Forest**

**END**

**[Preview**

_Boo Manor is just over the horizon._

_Two groups._

_One desire._

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XVIII: Demon's Ambition**

As always please review.


	19. Demon's Ambition

Next Gen Bros.

A Fanfic by Eric Merritt The Characters who Nintendo made are © of Nintendo. Don, Vito, Toadsky, Val, Tina, Hectate, The New Axem Rangers and Demon Koopa are my creations.

Author's Note: Hello, guys. Fanfics on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

_Last time on __**NEXT GEN BROS**__…_

_Demon's search takes him to a pub deep in Koopaland…_

_The Axems split up from their main troop to try and pull two surprise attacks on the Mushroom Kingdom._

_However, the Mushroom Kingdom warriors were able to get the drop on them and silence the invaders._

_But the Axem Rangers are still lurking about…and their prize? The Mushroom Kingdom!_

_**And now proudly presents…**_

**Chapter XVIII**

**Demon's Ambition**

"It's always nighttime here…" Bow sighed as she floated around her room. Her reflection hadn't returned to the mirror and she started to become very worried about her barrette. While she was floating she heard a whistling through the woods. A small breeze had entered the room via a window cracked in both meanings of the word. She gazed at the shining moon when she heard a stern clearing of the throat.

"Lady Bow!" a silver boo said while saluting.

"You know better than to barge in here without notifying me that your coming. Whether we Boos wear clothes or not is unimportant. I still am a lady. Have I made myself clear?" Bow ordered. The boo nervously nodded while the rest of his troop sweat dropped.

"You may proceed…" the lady said.

"My Lady, we have noticed some activity in the Forever Forest. There seemed to be a skirmish near the Mushroom Kingdom border."

Bow became interested in this news and turned her attention to the Boo and his group. The boo, seeing he now had the full attention of the Lady continued with a noted accented boldness in his speech.

"Our scouts noticed a slew of fallen Koopa Troops and there is an army marching towards us at an alarming rate."

"Is this so? Do they fly a banner?"

"In the darkness we couldn't see. However, there seems to be three groups in total. All of which are heading toward us."

"We shall greet the troops when they arrive," Bow mandated, "They will tell us their business and we will decide whether they are friend or foe. Ready all booby traps inside the Mansion. They have come to take the Mansion but if they are our enemy we shall let the Mansion take them."

-NGB-

"Are we there yet?" Sapphire whined.

The Axems were stealthily marching through the forest with close to no idea of where they were going.

"Darn, I was sure we were supposed to turn left at those smiling flowers…" Axem Gold said looking around for anything out of place.

"Should I maybe get an aerial view and try to help in the locating of the Mansion?" Axem Diamond suggested. Axem Gold sat down in frustration.

"I guess that would make sense. But we'd have to stay here so you'd know where we are. That's means we aren't progressing any into this forest!" Axem Gold said in a mini-pout.

"Getting lost won't do us any good though," Silver replied.

"Good point," Axem Gold said finally. He waved a hand at Diamond and Pearl, "You two go scope out the territory and find out how far we are from that blasted Manor…"

Diamond and Pearl saluted their leader and took a powerful leap into the air before letting their wings to the rest.

"Wish I had wings like that…" Sapphire whined.

-NGB-

Meanwhile the aging King was having similar problems. He and his troupe were significantly confused and hopelessly lost. Luigi briefly took his green cap off and crumpled it in his fist. He then took a deep breath and fixed it and replaced it on his head.

"Hon, do you have any idea where we are?" Daisy asked the king. Luigi looked up and then searched the area around him.

"Yeah, we're lost in the Forever Forest…" he said. Daisy lightly smacked him on the back of the head and reminded him of the reason they were there and why that wasn't funny.

"Man, if only there was some way we could send some fliers up to scout the area," Peach sighed. She pulled out her short sword and pointed to a couple Toads on Lakitu Clouds.

"Go up and scout the area." Peach ordered.

"Yeah milady!"

-NGB-

The three Toads flew up above the trees and were immediately bathed in sunlight. With the added illumination, they were able to see the roof of Boo Manor with ease. It was a single southeast turn from where the Royals were currently stationed. With this information the Toads prepared to head back to the Royals location.

-NGB-

"Did you see that?" Diamond asked Pearl. The pink winged warrior looked off into the distance, the glare coming from the sun reflecting off the wings of him and his partner limited the width his eyes could open but he could definitely make out the top of the Boo Manor. Not too far from it he was a few Lakitu clouds. The Lakitu clouds

"We didn't deploy any Lakitu did we?" Axem Pearl asked. The blue warrior shook his head no.

"We were strictly a Koopa Troopa and Buzzy Beetle force today," Diamond replied. Pearl frowned.

"Guess that means the Mushroom Kingdom anticipated our surprise attack and came to get us."

The two warriors began to fly back to the other Axems when Pearl stopped in midair and crossed his legs.

"Come on, let's go ahead and report back to Gold." Diamond urged. Pearl stayed put and closed his eyes as anime characters do when they are thinking.

"I think we should tell Gold to send the troops first." Pearl finally said. Diamond looked at his friend. Pearl had finally opened his eyes was standing up, or at least in a standing position, again.

"If the troops can kill the majority of the Toads, then we Axems could pick off the Royals with relative ease and proceed to take the Manor and continue our invasion." Pearl suggested.

Diamond cruelly smiled and laughed heartily, "Yeah, that might just work." The two winged warriors did backflips before proceeding to fly back to where the Axems had set up shop.

-NGB-

The pub was a fairly rundown shack. Many of the boards that had once made up the roof now lay askew on the ground in ridiculous heaps. Demon entered the pub apparently at the height of it's happy hour. A random Buzzy Beetle walked up to the King of Koopas and began to laugh deliriously.

"Come have a drink with me."

Demon glowered at the drunken fool and roared, "Alcohol is a terrible thing. It slows the reflexes, dulls the senses and gives on a false sense of strength. None of these are desirable traits." The Buzzy Beetle stared at Demon and hiccupped. He then looked to Demon's generals.

"How about y'all?"

The Generals slunk down and shook their heads quickly to prevent incurring Demon's wrath.

"Very good. Now let's go talk to this barkeep." Demon snarled. He and his generals marched past a few drunkards until reaching the bar, behind which was a massive Koopa Troopa. He wore thick rimmed glasses and a red shell that had a black vest covering his underside. He was a good two or three feet taller than Demon and probably about twice the weight. Pound for pound, Kent C. Koopa was a beast.

"So the guy wants a refund," the Koopa giant said talking to a Lakitu three bottles away from hugging the porcelain, "And I says to him 'what do I look like a charity fund?'". The Lakitu laughed so hard that he began to float away on his cloud. The prospect of losing his drink, however, brought him quickly back.

"Hey!" Kent C. said noting his newest additions to the bar, "What'll it be, eh? You names it, I gots it."

"I'm not here for a drink," Demon said in a rough growl.

"Heh, then you've come to the wrong place. But what'd ya' want if yous don't wanna drink?"

"Info. I'm looking for the heir to Bowser's throne."

"Who'd wanna know that?" Kent C. said with a fleeting sound of nervousness.

"The person who claimed the throne."

"Prince Demon?" Kent C. asked. He took his glasses off and rubbed them on vest he was wearing.

"It's King Demon now. But I've been hearing some news that I wasn't the rightful heir to Bowser's throne."

"Really, now. That _is_ interesting." Kent C. said thoughtfully.

"He's a threat to my position and I'll have him eliminated. Do you know where he is?" Demon roared.

"That puts me in a interesting position. See, I'm sworn to King Bowser. After all he's done for me, I couldn't offers up his true heir. Sorry, I respects you and what you're doing for Koopaland but no way am I betraying Bowser."

"That's too bad. Because everything my grandfather did for you is about to go up in a single burst of flame if you don't give me a name and a location."

"Sorry pal," Kent C. said, "I may be a greedy son-of-a-Buzzy Beetle but I ain't a traitor."

"Then by your words you've convicted yourself and been found guilty. I'm still going to find this heir and kill him. So you dying tonight is pointless. I'll give you one last-"

"Shove it ya nut!" Kent C. spat.

"Very well," Demon said in a half bow. The Generals followed the Koopa King out of the pub.

"See that Demon's a buncha' talk. No action."

-NGB-

"So we're letting them go like that?" Jr. Troopa asked. Demon laughed evilly. The Generals and the King had stopped just outside of the tavern.

"No. Hectate. When I give the word I want you to put a protective barrier around Pub, aside from air I don't want anything to be able to come in or out." Demon said smiling.

"Sure my king…" Hectate said. He was as confused as the other generals.

Without warning Demon shot a large flare at the Tavern, immediately engulfing in flames.

"Now!" Demon snarled. Hectate quickly placed a light purple barrier around the Tavern. Everybody who was inside was being cooked. Demon marched to the bubble and saw the horrified face of Kent C. Koopa.

"One last chance…" Demon said.

Kent C.was writhing in pain but he was able to make out, "Birabuto…" before screaming in agony. Demon smiled. Kent C. looked up and asked the King, "Save us! I thought…"

"I never said I would save you. I said you had one last chance to tell me the info I needed. Die knowing that you betrayed Bowser by offering his son to me."

**Chapter XVIII: Demon's Ambition**

**END**

**[Preview**

_The Next-Gen Bros were able to defeat the Koopaland main invaders with relative ease. But they Axem Generals are heading for the Old Guard. As Boo Manor gets closer the desperation and desire grows stronger._

_Can Axem Gold pull off the invasion?_

_Or will the Queens and King show Axem Gold you can't beat the classics?_

Until Next Time…

**Chapter XIX: Axem Rangers! Rainbow Assault!**

A/N: Sorry Chapter 18 was originally supposed to be Chapter 19. But when I started writing I guess it didn't work out that way.


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